Lipophilicity

Lipophilicity (from Greek lipos "fat" and philein "to love") is the ability of a chemical compound to dissolve in fats, oils, lipids, and non-polar solvents such as hexane or toluene. These non-polar solvents are lipophilic since they resemble lipids in terms of their polarity. Lipophilicity is a concept important in many aspects of pharmacy, chemistry, and biochemistry.

Overview

Lipophilicity is commonly measured by its partition coefficient P between octanol and water (log P). This partition coefficient is used to quantify the lipophilicity of a compound. The higher the log P of a compound, the higher its lipophilicity.

Importance in Medicine

In medicine, lipophilicity is one of the most important properties of a drug molecule. It affects the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) of the drug in the body. Drugs must be lipophilic enough to cross the lipid-rich cell membranes, but not so lipophilic that they accumulate in the fat stores of the body.

Measurement

There are several methods to measure lipophilicity, such as the shake flask method, reverse phase HPLC, immobilized artificial membrane (IAM) chromatography, and silico predictions.

See Also

• Hydrophobicity
• Hydrophilicity
• Partition coefficient
• Biochemistry
• Pharmacy
• Chemistry