Enhancement of aqueous solubility of tricyclic acyclovir derivatives by their complexation with hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin

Solubilities of tricyclic acyclovir derivatives in buffered aqueous solutions of hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) at pH 5.5 and 7.0 were determined at 25 and 37 °C. Complexation of these compounds with HP-β-CD resulted in a noticeable increase of their solubility; nevertheless it was limited to tricyclic derivatives of acyclovir carrying an aryl substituent. Combination of 1 H NMR and DSC techniques demonstrated the existence of inclusion complexes between acyclovir derivatives and HP-β-CD. The stability constants, estimated using the Higuchi–Connors method, were found in the range of 10–100 M −1 . Additionally, the p K a values at 25 °C and molar extinction coefficients in aqueous buffered solutions were also determined for all studied compounds.