Therapeutic Deep Eutectic Solvent-Based Ion-Gel As a Neoteric Drug Delivery Carrier for 5-Fluorouracil

The objective of this computational and experimental research is to assess and evaluate the potential mechanism for development of ion-gels based on therapeutic deep eutectic solvents (THDESs) for drug delivery systems, by considering for the first time its interaction with an anticancer drug (5‐fluorouracil (5-FU)). This work is made up in two steps: first, a THDES containing choline chloride (ChCl) and ascorbic acid (AA) was synthesized and some thermophysical properties of the THDES was obtained by use of density and speed of sound determinations at various temperatures. In the second step, preparation, characterization, interaction investigations and drug release profile of a new type of biodegradable, green and sustainable carrier for 5-FU containing a THDES [ChCl)/AA] and 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) have been studied. The chemical structure of the synthesized ion-gel was investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1HNMR). The results show that the polymerized ion-gel is well synthesized, and the structure of the drug in ion-gel was stable up to 8 months without undergoing any degradation. The drug release profiles of the ion-gel were evaluated at 310.15 K in two different pHs (6.8 and 7.4). The outcomes propose that this type of new type of drug delivery system is a special system for 5-FU as an anti-cancer drug may exist in nature and the ion-gel release of 5‐FU in both pH conditions is ~ 68% and ~ 39% at pH 6.8 and 7.4, respectively.