Potential use of ascorbic acid based surfactants as skin penetration enhancers.

PALMA SD; MALETTO B; NOSTRO RH; MANZO R; PISTORESI-PALENCIA MC; ALLEMANDI D

DRUG DEVELOPMENT AND INDUSTRIAL PHARMACY

Año: 2006 vol. 32 p. 1 - 1

0363-9045

font face="Frutiger-Bold" size="3"> 6-O-Ascorbic acid alkanoates (ASCn) are amphiphilic molecules having physical-chemical properties that depend on the alkyl chain length. The derivatives of low molecular weight (n < 11) have enough aqueous solubility to produce self-assemblies at room temperature (¡Ö25¡ãC), while those with longer alkyl chains possess a critical micellar temperature (CMT) higher than 30¡ãC. At higher temperatures (T¡ã > CMT), ASCn aqueous suspensions turn into either micellar solutions or gel phases, depending on the length of the hydrophobic chain. On cooling, coagels are produced, which possess a lamellar structure that exhibit sharp X-ray diffraction patterns and optical birefringence. The semisolid consistency of such coagels is an interesting property to formulate dermatological pharmaceutical dosage forms able to solubilize and stabilize di