A combined TD-DFT and spectroscopic investigation of the solute–solvent interactions of efavirenz

• The UV and 1H NMR profile of efavirenz in different solvents was investigated.
• Theoretical reproduction of experimental spectra via TD-DFT/PCM was good.
• Amino and carbonyl moieties account for the interactions observed.

Efavirenz, commercially known as Sustiva® or Stocrin®, is a first-line antiretroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS. The clinical efficacy of efavirenz is, however, hindered by its solubility. We sought to investigate the solute–solvent effects of efavirenz by means of a combined qualitative study implementing UV–visible spectrophotometry, 1H NMR spectroscopy and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations. The UV spectrum displayed two main absorbance maxima, band I and band II at 246–260 and 291–295 nm, respectively. A general bathochromic shift was noticed from the non-polar solvent cyclohexane to the most polar solvent DMSO (≈ 13.69 nm) in band I and a smaller bathochromic (≈ 2.17 nm) and hyperchromic shift was observed in band II. We propose that these observations are due to the role of the amino (NH) and carbonyl (CO) functionalities which induce charge-transfer and intra- and inter-molecular hydrogen bonding. The aromatic and amine protons showed the most deshielded effects in the observed chemical shifts (δ) in the more polar DMSO-d6 solvent relative to CDCl3. The 1H NMR chemical shifts observed are due to the increased delocalization of the lone pair electrons of the amino nitrogen with increased polarity of the more polar DMSO solvent. The theoretical reproduction of the UV and 1H NMR spectra by means of TD-DFT is in good agreement with the experimental results.

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