The triethanolammonium salts of dodecyl-, tetradecyl-, hexadecyl-, and octadecylsulfuric acids were pre ared. Ointment bases were formulated from varying pro- portions of the salts, t i e corresponding alcohols, and propylene glycol. The release of salicylic acid, tesorcinol, sulfadiazine, iodochlorhydroxyquin, and sulfur from these bases, polyethylene glycol ointment, and white petrolatum was studied by use of tissue digest procedures and microscopic examination, using guinea pigs as the test animals.
WRING THE past two decades, a great deal of I> effort has been made t o devise dermatologics free of greasiness by preparing emulsions and by using water-soluble, bases, as exemplified by polyethylene glycol ointment. However, both of these groups of mixtures possess certain inadequacies.
Emulsion bases contain large amounts of water which may evaporate under storage conditions and/or might affect the stability of the incorporated medicament. Conversely, the addition of the therapeutic agent may influence the stability of the emulsion. The polyethylene glycol ointments are not completely satisfactory, cosmetically, and they are potential complex formers with some types of medicaments.
In this investigation, formulation was directed toward the preparation of a mixture miscible with both water and oil so that it might be removed easily by washing, while at the same time possessing a measure of compatibility with the oils of the skin. Toward this goal, a group of four fusible triethanolammonium salts of dodecyl-, tetradecyl-, hexadecyl-, and octadecylsulfuric acids was synthesized. By adjusting the proportions of these salts and their corresponding alcohols, it was possible to adjust the physical characteristics to meet any requirement as to consistency, appearance, and melting behavior. An indication of the usefulness of these bases was obtained by comparing the release of medication from ointments prepared from representatives of the experimental base, white petrolatum, and polyethylene glycol ointment, into which sulfur, resorcinol, salicylic acid, iodochlorhydroxyquin, and sulfadiazine were incorporated. Drug availability from the bases was determined