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Abstract
Modern strategies to deliver drugs efficiently via less toxic non-aqueous carriers like deep eutectic solvents (DES) has
grown tremendously. Herein, we develop several synthetic and natural DES to improve solubility of poorly soluble
drug, docetaxel (DTX). Menthol:Thymol-based natural DES showed 1500-folds higher solubility for DTX than that
in water. FTIR-spectroscopy confirmed reduced crystallinity and stable encapsulation of DTX in DES through
formation of hydrogen-bond. DTX-DES was developed further into self-emulsified formulation that upon dilution
formed nano-sized globules (<200 nm) and released 20-folds higher DTX than pure drug thereby highlighting the
potential of DES for designing formulations of poorly soluble drugs.
