The importance of screening solid-state phases of a racemic modification of a chiral drug: thermodynamic and structural characterization of solid-state phases of etiracetam.

In this contribution different solid-state forms of the racemic compound (RS)-2-(2-oxo-pyrrolidin-1yl)-butyramide are studied from a structural and thermal point of view. Three different solid-state phases were identified, including two polymorphs and one hydrate phase. Comparison is made with the structure of the (S)-enantiomer, for which only one solid-state phase is known. The basic structural motif found in both polymorphs of the racemic compound is similar, but the basic motif observed for the hydrate differs. These synthons could in principle be used in future polymorph prediction studies to screen for possible alternative forms of the enantiopure compound. Based on the structure of the hydrate, further efforts should therefore be made in order to identify a hydrate structure of the enantiopure compound. Studying the different phases of a racemic compound can therefore help to guide polymorphic screening of an enantiopure compound.

Solid-liquid phase diagrams for the determination of the solid state nature of both polymorphs of (RS)-2-(2-oxo-pyrrolidin-1-yl)-butyramide.

This work focuses on the determination of the solid state nature of (RS)-2-(2-oxo-pyrrolidin-1-yl)-butyramide (Etiracetam), the racemic intermediate of (S)-2-(2-oxo-pyrrolidin-1-yl)-butyramide, an Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient, marketed under the name Levetiracetam(®). It is show how this information can easily be extracted from solid-liquid phase diagrams of the racemic system. As two polymorphs of Etiracetam are known (Forms I and II), the analyses have been performed considering both polymorphs. The solid-liquid phase diagrams are determined experimentally, using Differential Scanning Calorimetry, and theoretically, using the Prigogine-Defay and Schroeder-Van Laar equations. Only the phase diagram involving the polymorph stable at higher temperatures (Form II) can be constructed experimentally. The theoretical phase diagram involving this polymorph compares well with the experimental one, thus allowing the use of theoretical equations for the prediction of the solid-liquid phase diagram involving Form I, which is meta-stable above 30.5 °C. Our findings confirm that both polymorphs are racemic compounds, which is also confirmed by XRPD analysis.