Determination of solubility of Aprepitant (an antiemetic drug for chemotherapy) in supercritical carbon dioxide: Empirical and thermodynamic models

Aprepitant is an effective and powerful antiemetic agent applied in cancer chemotherapy. In this research, solubility of aprepitant was measured in supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) for the first time. Experimental runs were performed at pressures and temperatures ranging from 12 to 33 MPa and 308.15 to 338.15 K, respectively. The mole fraction of solid drug was obtained in the range of 0.45 x 10(-5)-7.67 x 10(-5). Solubility data were correlated using six density-based models and also equations of state (EoS) such as Peng-Robinson and Soave Redlich Kwong. Empirical models and EoSs with different estimation methods had an average of AARD ranging from 13.14 to 19.67 and 9.22 to 9.87%, respectively. The obtained results exhibited that the Peng-Robinson's model was better to predict the solubility of aprepitant. Solubility results obviously show the feasibility of processing this drug and possibly use from SCF technologies for micro and nano sizing of particles.