Synthesis of Nitrogen Containing Biocompatible Non-ionic Surfactants and Investigation for Their Self-Assembly Based Nano-Scale Vesicles

Nonionic surfactants are increasingly interesting because of the solubility and release of drugs. Here, a synthesis of four nonionic nitrogen-containing surfactants is reported. In the synthesis, sul-fonamide was reacted with alkyl halides of different lipophilicity. The synthesized nonionic surfactants were characterized by 1 H NMR and mass spectroscopy. Their critical micelle concentration (CMC) was determined with a UV spectrophotometer. The self-assembly of surfactants to form drug-loaded, niosomal vesicles with Simvastatin as model drug was investigated. The resulting niosoaml vesicles were characterized by atomic force microscope (AFM), zeta-sizer, and UV spectrophotometer for shape, size, polydispersity index, zeta potential, and drug inclusion efficiency. Their biocompatibility has been determined by blood hemolysis and cell toxicity tests. The synthesized surfactants showed low CMC values and were able to form nano-sized round niosomal vesicles with a homogeneous population and surface negativity. Depending on the lipophilicity, they absorbed an increased amount of drug. The biocompatibility studies show that the surfactants are hemocompatible and non-toxic. The results of the study confirm that the synthesized nonionic surfactants are suitable for the solubilization and release of hydrophobic drugs as efficient novel biocompatible carriers.