Solid solution polymorphs afford two highly soluble co-drug forms of tolbutamide and chlorpropamide

The search for solid solutions of class-two insulin secretagogues, tolbutamide and chlorpropamide, reveals a rare case of monotropic polymorphism for the mixed crystals. At any stoichiometry, two crystal forms are isolated that are kinetically stable at room temperature from a few months to over a year. Dissolution tests certify the solubility advantage of the solid solutions over the pure drugs as well as their physical mixture, suggesting a potential application as a highly soluble co-drug formulation.

Stabilization of Metastable Indomethacin α in Cellulose Nanocrystal Aerogel Scaffolds

Indomethacin (IM) is a small molecule active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) that exhibits polymorphism with the γ-form being the most thermodynamically stable form of the drug. The α-form is metastable, but it exhibits higher solubility, making it a more attractive form for drug delivery. As with other metastable polymorphs, α-IM undergoes interconversion to the stable form when subjected to certain stimuli, such as solvent, heat, pH, or exposure to seed crystals of the stable form. In this study, IM was crystallized into cellulose nanocrystal aerogel scaffolds as a mixture of the two polymorphic forms, α-IM and γ-IM. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Raman spectroscopy were used to quantitatively determine the amount of each form. Our investigation found that the metastable α-IM could be stabilized within the aerogel without phase transformation, even in the presence of external stimuli, including heat and γ-IM seed crystals. Because interconversion is often a concern during production of metastable forms of APIs, this approach has important implications in being able to produce and stabilize metastable drug forms. While IM was used as a model drug in this study, this approach could be expanded to additional drugs and provide access to other metastable API forms.

A tolbutamide-metformin salt based on antidiabetic drug combinations: synthesis, crystal structure analysis and pharmaceutical properties

A drug-drug anhydrous pharmaceutical salt containing tolbutamide {systematic name: 3-butyl-1-[(4-methylbenzene)sulfonyl]urea, TOL, C₁₂H₁₈N₂O₃S} and metformin (systematic name: 1-carbamimidamido-N,N-dimethylmethanimidamide, MET, C₄H₁₁N₅) was created based on antidiabetic drug combinations to overcome the poor pharmaceutical properties of the parent drugs. Proton transfer and the proportion of the two components were confirmed by ¹H NMR spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Comprehensive characterization of the new pharmaceutical salt crystal, 2-[(dimethylamino)(iminiumyl)methyl]guanidine (butylcarbamoyl)[(4-methylbenzene)sulfonyl]azanide, C₄H₁₂N₅⁺·C₁₂H₁₇N₂O₃S^-, was performed and showed enhancement of the pharmaceutical properties, such as lower hygroscopicity and greater accelerated stability than the parent drug MET, and higher solubility and dissolution rate than TOL. The property alterations were correlated with the crystal packing features and potential hydrogen-bonding sites through observed changes in the crystal structures.

Preparation and characterization for multicomponent crystals of the antidiabetic drug gliquidone based on crystal engineering

Multicomponent crystals are designed and synthesized after analyzing the stable conformation of gliquidone.

Selective preparation of elusive and alternative single component polymorphic solid forms through multi-component crystallisation routes

A transferable, simple, method for producing previously elusive and novel polymorphic forms of important active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs; paracetamol (acetaminophen), piroxicam and piracetam) is demonstrated. Nitrogen heterocyclic co-molecules are employed to influence the self-assembly crystallisation process in a multi-component environment. Previously unknown solvates have also been synthesised by this method.

Thermodynamic Stability Analysis of Tolbutamide Polymorphs and Solubility in Organic Solvents

Melting temperatures and enthalpies of fusion have been determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) for 2 polymorphs of the drug tolbutamide: FI(H) and FV. Heat capacities have been determined by temperature-modulated DSC for 4 polymorphs: FI(L), FI(H), FII, FV, and for the supercooled melt. The enthalpy of fusion of FII at its melting point has been estimated from the enthalpy of transition of FII into FI(H) through a thermodynamic cycle. Calorimetric data have been used to derive a quantitative polymorphic stability relationship between these 4 polymorphs, showing that FII is the stable polymorph below approximately 333 K, above which temperature FI(H) is the stable form up to its melting point. The relative stability of FV is well below the other polymorphs. The previously reported kinetic reversibility of the transformation between FI(L) and FI(H) has been verified using in situ Raman spectroscopy. The solid-liquid solubility of FII has been gravimetrically determined in 5 pure organic solvents (methanol, 1-propanol, ethyl acetate, acetonitrile, and toluene) over the temperature range 278 to 323 K. The ideal solubility has been estimated from calorimetric data, and solution activity coefficients at saturation in the 5 solvents determined. All solutions show positive deviation from Raoult's law, and all van't Hoff plots of solubility data are nonlinear. The solubility in toluene is well below that observed in the other investigated solvents. Solubility data have been correlated and extrapolated to the melting point using a semiempirical regression model.

Recent progress of structural study of polymorphic pharmaceutical drugs

This review considers advances in the understanding of active pharmaceutical ingredient polymorphism since around 2010 mainly from a structural view point, with a focus on twelve model drugs. New polymorphs of most of these drugs have been identified despite that the polymorphism of these old drugs has been extensively studied so far. In addition to the conventional modifications of preparative solvents, temperatures, and pressure, more strategic structure-based methods have successfully yielded new polymorphs. The development of analytical techniques, including X-ray analyses, spectroscopy, and microscopy has facilitated the identification of unknown crystal structures and also the discovery of new polymorphs. Computational simulations have played an important role in explaining and predicting the stability order of polymorphs. Furthermore, these make significant contributions to the design of new polymorphs by considering structure and energy. The new technologies and insights discussed in this review will contribute to the control of polymorphic forms, both during manufacture and in the drug formulation.

Polymorphism in phenobarbital: discovery of a new polymorph and crystal structure of elusive form V

This report highlights the discovery of a new polymorph of the anticonvulsant drug phenobarbital (PB) using polymer-induced heteronucleation (PIHn) and unravelling the crystal structure of the elusive form V. Both forms are characterized by structural, thermal and VT-Raman spectroscopy methods to elucidate phase transformation behavior and shed light on stability relationships.

Isoenergetic Polymorphism: The Puzzle of Tolazamide as a Case Study

In the present case study of tolazamide we illustrate how many seemingly contradictory results that have been obtained from experimental observations and theoretical calculations can finally start forming a consistent picture: a "puzzle put together". For many years, tolazamide was considered to have no polymorphs. This made this drug substance unique among the large family of sulfonylureas, which was known to be significantly more prone to polymorphism than many other organic compounds. The present work employs a broad and in-depth analysis that includes the use of optical microscopy, single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction, IR and Raman spectroscopies, DSC, semiempirical PIXEL calculations and DFT of three polymorphs of tolazamide. This case study shows how the polymorphs of a molecular crystal can be overlooked even if discovered serendipitously on one of numerous crystallizations, and how very different molecular packings can be practically isoenergetic but still crystallize quite selectively and transform one into another irreversibly upon heating.

The first polymorph in the family of nucleobases: a second form of cytosine

A new polymorph of cytosine, C4H5N3O, is reported half a century after the report of its first known crystal structure [Barker & Marsh (1964).Acta Cryst.17, 1581–1587]. Cytosine thus provides the first polymorphic example in the category of parent nucleobases. The new form, denoted (Ib), was observed unexpectedly during an attempt to cocrystallize cytosine with catechol. Form (Ib) crystallizes in the orthorhombic centrosymmetric space groupPccnwith two molecules in the asymmetric unit. The previously known form, denoted (Ia), crystallizes in the orthorhombic noncentrosymmetric space groupP212121. The cytosine molecule is planar in both forms. Hydrogen-bonding interactions are also similar for both forms. Infinite one-dimensional ribbons composed of cytosine base-pair dimers inR22(8) arrangements are observed in both (Ia) and (Ib). However, the way that the ribbons are packed differs in (Ia) and (Ib). This appears to guide the centrosymmetricversusnoncentrosymmetric space-group selection through the formation of an inversion-related motif in polymorph (Ib) and a helical propagation in polymorph (Ia). A few selected polymorphic systems have been gathered from the Cambridge Structural Database to understand possible structural features responsible for achiral molecules adopting centro- and noncentrosymmetric space groups.

Simultaneous determination of several crystal structures from powder mixtures: the combination of powder X-ray diffraction, band-target entropy minimization and Rietveld methods

Crystal structure determination is the key to a detailed understanding of crystalline materials and their properties. This requires either single crystals or high-quality single-phase powder X-ray diffraction data. The present contribution demonstrates a novel method to reconstruct single-phase powder diffraction data from diffraction patterns of mixtures of several components and subsequently to determine the individual crystal structures. The new method does not require recourse to any database of known materials but relies purely on numerical separation of the mixture data into individual component diffractograms. The resulting diffractograms can subsequently be treated like single-phase powder diffraction data,i.e.indexing, structure solution and Rietveld refinement. This development opens up a host of new opportunities in materials science and related areas. For example, crystal structures can now be determined at much earlier stages when only impure samples or polymorphic mixtures are available.

Mechanistic insight into the selective crystallization of the metastable polymorph of tolbutamide in ethanol–water solution

A combined experimental and molecular dynamics simulation study discloses the effects of solvents and supersaturation on the tolbutamide polymorphs outcome.

Solvates of the antifungal drug griseofulvin: structural, thermochemical and conformational analysis

Four solvates of an antifungal drug, griseofulvin (GF), were discovered. All the solvates were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, and their crystal structures were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The solvents that form the solvates are acetonitrile, nitromethane and nitroethane (2:1 and 1:1). It was found that all the solvates lose the solvent molecules from the crystal lattice between 343 and 383 K, and that the melting point of the desolvated materials matched the melting point of the solvent-free GF (493 K). The conformation of the GF molecule in solvent-free form was found to be significantly different from the conformations found in the solvates. Solution stability studies revealed that the GF–acetonitrile solvate transforms to GF and that GF–nitroethane (1:1) solvate transforms to GF–nitroethane (2:1) solvate. On the other hand, GF–nitromethane and GF–nitroethane (2:1) solvates were found to be stable in solution. Our results highlight the importance of the co-crystallization technique in the pharmaceutical drug development; it not only expands the solid form diversity but also creates new avenues for unraveling novel solvates.

Two new metastable forms of 6-chloroquinolin-2(1H)-one: crystal structure, Hirshfeld surfaces and spectroscopic studies

Two new metastable crystalline forms of 6-chloroquinolin-2(1H)-one (forms II and III), which were induced by two kinds of 3D inorganic anions (ClO4- and BF4-), have been prepared and characterized in this work. We performed single-crystal diffraction, X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), Hirshfeld surfaces, solid-state vibrational spectroscopy (IR) and thermal analysis (DSC, TGA) to these two new forms as well as the original one (form I). Form I featured with 1D chain, while form II and III featured with dimeric unit with stronger π⋯π and hydrogen bonds interactions. The 3D inorganic anions force the self-assemble behavior of 6-chloroquinolin-2(1H)-one molecules from 1D chain structure (form I) to dimeric unit (forms II and III) due to their large steric hindrance, and different anions induced different orientations for dimeric unit. These transformations lead to the increase of N-H⋯O, π⋯π, and Cl-Cl intermolecular interactions, which lead to blue shift of IR spectra in 1700-1500 cm(-1) region as well as luminescence peaks, while red shift of IR spectra in 650-550 cm(-1) region.