Influence of Co-amorphization on the Physical Stability and Dissolution Performance of an Anthelmintic Drug Flubendazole.

In this work, the co-amorphization approach was applied to flubendazole (FluBZ), resulting in the formation of two novel solid forms of FluBZ with l-phenylalanine (Phe) and l-tryptophan (Trp). A variety of physicochemical techniques have been used to describe new systems, including powder X-ray diffraction, thermal methods, infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. Co-amorphization has been shown to suppress crystallization tendency and considerably increase the shelf-life storage of amorphous flubendazole solid across a wide range of relative humidities. The dissolution behavior of the amorphous forms in biorelevant media at pH = 1.6, pH = 6.5, and 37 °C has been studied in terms of Cmax (maximum FluBZ concentration), Tmax (time to attain peak drug concentration), and AUC (concentration area under the curve during dissolution). At pH = 6.5, a continuous supersaturation and the highest AUC value of all examined systems were observed for the FluBZ-Phe (1:1) system. The phase solubility diagrams revealed that the reason for the better dissolution performance of FluBZ-Phe (1:1) at pH = 6.5 is a complexation between the components in a solution. This work highlights the applicability of co-amorphous systems in improving the physical stability and dissolution performance of drug compounds with poor biopharmaceutical characteristics.

Polymorphic forms of antiandrogenic drug nilutamide: structural and thermodynamic aspects.

Attempts to obtain new cocrystals of nonsteroidal antiandrogenic drug nilutamide produced alternative polymorphic forms of the compound (Form II and Form III) and their crystal structures were elucidated by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Apart from the cocrystallization technique, lyophilization was found to be an effective strategy for achieving polymorph control of nilutamide, which was difficult to obtain by other methods. The physicochemical properties and relative stability of the commercial Form I and newly obtained Form II were comprehensively investigated by a variety of analytical methods (thermal analysis, solution calorimetry, solubility, and sublimation), whereas for Form III, only a handful of experimental parameters were obtained due to the elusive nature of the polymorph. Form I and Form II were found to be monotropically related, with Form I being confirmed as the thermodynamically most stable solid phase. In addition, the performance of different DFT-D and semi-empirical schemes for lattice energy calculation and polymorph energy ranking was compared and analysed. Lattice energy calculations using periodic DFT at B3LYP-D3/6-31(F+)G(d,p) and PBEh-3c/def2-mSVP levels of theory were found to provide the most accurate lattice energy values for Form I against experimental data, while PIXEL and PBEh-3c/def2-mSVP were the only methods that predicted the correct order of stability of Forms I and II.

Identification of a previously unreported co-crystal form of acetazolamide: a combination of multiple experimental and virtual screening methods.

In the search for new co-crystal forms, many studies only consider one method of co-crystallisation which may lead to incorrect results. In this work, we demonstrate the efficiency of applying multiple experimental and virtual screening methods for a more comprehensive search for co-crystals of acetazolamide. A new co-crystal of acetazolamide with 4-aminobenzoic acid ([ACZ + PABA] (1 : 1)) was discovered, although previously, it had been found in the blind spot of the liquid-assisted grinding (LAG) screening method. The new co-crystal was investigated by different analytical techniques, including the powder and single crystal X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, dissolution and solubility methods. The specific features of the mechanochemical formation process for [ACZ + PABA] (1 : 1) were studied. It was found that the appearance of the blind spot of the LAG screening method can be caused by a number of reasons; among those are the high sensitivity to the solvent choice and the low rate of the reagent conversion into the reaction product. A comparison of the ACZ co-crystals with 4-aminobenzoic and 4-hydroxybenzoic acids revealed their close resemblance in terms of the packing energy gain and the driving force of co-crystallization. Therefore, the experimental problems in the formation of the [ACZ + PABA] (1 : 1) co-crystal were associated with a number of kinetic reasons, e.g. the high energy barrier of the nucleation process and the low growth rate of the co-crystal. Using the co-crystal screening of acetazolamide as an example, the effectiveness of five different virtual methods for predicting co-crystal formation was assessed. In order to carry out the virtual screening based on the formation thermodynamics of a hypothetical co-crystal, for the first time ever we studied the ACZ sublimation process. Four out of the five virtual screening methods confirm the formation of the new [ACZ + PABA] (1 : 1) co-crystal.

Combined X-ray Crystallographic, IR/Raman Spectroscopic, and Periodic DFT Investigations of New Multicomponent Crystalline Forms of Anthelmintic Drugs: A Case Study of Carbendazim Maleate.

Synthesis of multicomponent solid forms is an important method of modifying and fine-tuning the most critical physicochemical properties of drug compounds. The design of new multicomponent pharmaceutical materials requires reliable information about the supramolecular arrangement of molecules and detailed description of the intermolecular interactions in the crystal structure. It implies the use of a combination of different experimental and theoretical investigation methods. Organic salts present new challenges for those who develop theoretical approaches describing the structure, spectral properties, and lattice energy Elatt. These crystals consist of closed-shell organic ions interacting through relatively strong hydrogen bonds, which leads to Elatt > 200 kJ/mol. Some technical problems that a user of periodic (solid-state) density functional theory (DFT) programs encounters when calculating the properties of these crystals still remain unsolved, for example, the influence of cell parameter optimization on the Elatt value, wave numbers, relative intensity of Raman-active vibrations in the low-frequency region, etc. In this work, various properties of a new two-component carbendazim maleate crystal were experimentally investigated, and the applicability of different DFT functionals and empirical Grimme corrections to the description of the obtained structural and spectroscopic properties was tested. Based on this, practical recommendations were developed for further theoretical studies of multicomponent organic pharmaceutical crystals.

Cocrystals of a 1,2,4-thiadiazole-based potent neuroprotector with gallic acid: solubility, thermodynamic stability relationships and formation pathways.

Three distinct solid forms, namely anhydrous cocrystals with 2 : 1 and 1 : 1 drug/acid ratios ([TDZ : GA] (2 : 1), [TDZ : GA] (1 : 1)), and a hydrated one having 1 : 1 : 1 drug/acid/water stoichiometry ([TDZ : GA : H2O] (1 : 1 : 1)), have been formed by cocrystallization of the biologically active 1,2,4-thiadiazole derivative (TDZ) with gallic acid (GA). The thermodynamic stability relationships between the cocrystals were rationalized in terms of Gibbs energies of the formation reactions and further verified by performing a set of competitive and exchange mechanochemical reactions. Interestingly, competitive grinding in the presence of the structurally related vanillic acid led to the formation of a new polymorphic form of the [TDZ : Vanillic acid] (1 : 1) cocrystal, which was promoted by gallic acid. The mechanochemical method was also applied to elucidate the alternative pathways of the [TDZ : GA : H2O] (1 : 1 : 1) cocrystal formation. Direct cocrystallization of TDZ with GA monohydrate was found to proceed much faster than the reaction of TDZ and anhydrous GA in the presence of an acetonitrile/water mixture, which may indicate the presence of a transitional stage. According to dissolution studies, the [TDZ : GA : H2O] (1 : 1 : 1) cocrystal was ca. 6.6 times more soluble than the parent 1,2,4-thiadiazole at pH 2.0 and 25.0 °C. The apparent two-step dehydration behavior of the [TDZ : GA : H2O] (1 : 1 : 1) cocrystal monohydrate was clarified by analyzing the intermolecular interactions of water molecules with the crystalline environment derived from solid state DFT calculations.

New Solid Forms of the Antiviral Drug Arbidol: Crystal Structures, Thermodynamic Stability, and Solubility.

Salts of the antiviral drug Arbidol (umifenovir) with pharmaceutically relevant benzoate and salicylate anions were obtained, and their crystal structures were described. For Arbidol salicylate, an unstable solvate with acetonitrile was also found and characterized. Analysis of the conformational preferences of the Arbidol molecule in the crystal structures showed that it adopts two types of conformations, namely "open" and "closed", both of which correspond to local conformational energy minima of the isolated molecule. Thermal stability of the Arbidol salicylate solvates with chloroform and acetonitrile was analyzed by means of differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis. The standard thermodynamic functions of the salt formation were determined. The Gibbs energy change of the process was found to be negative, indicating that the formation of the salts from individual components is a spontaneous process. The dissolution study of the Arbidol salts performed in aqueous buffer solutions with pH 1.2 and 6.8 showed that both salts dissolve incongruently to form an Arbidol hydrochloride monohydrate at pH 1.2 and an Arbidol base at pH 6.8, respectively.

Pharmaceutical cocrystals of diflunisal and diclofenac with theophylline.

Pharmaceutical cocrystals of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs diflunisal (DIF) and diclofenac (DIC) with theophylline (THP) were obtained, and their crystal structures were determined. In both of the crystal structures, molecules form a hydrogen bonded supramolecular unit consisting of a centrosymmetric dimer of THP and two molecules of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). Crystal lattice energy calculations showed that the packing energy gain of the [DIC + THP] cocrystal is derived mainly from the dispersion energy, which dominates the structures of the cocrystals. The enthalpies of cocrystal formation were estimated by solution calorimetry, and their thermal stability was studied by differential scanning calorimetry. The cocrystals showed an enhancement of apparent solubility compared to the corresponding pure APIs, while the intrinsic dissolution rates are comparable. Both cocrystals demonstrated physical stability upon storing at different relative humidity.

Supramolecular Organization in Salts of Riluzole with Dihydroxybenzoic Acids-The Key Role of the Mutual Arrangement of OH Groups.

Intermolecular interactions, in particular hydrogen bonds, play a key role in crystal engineering. The ability to form hydrogen bonds of various types and strengths causes competition between supramolecular synthons in pharmaceutical multicomponent crystals. In this work, we investigate the influence of positional isomerism on the packing arrangements and the network of hydrogen bonds in multicomponent crystals of the drug riluzole with hydroxyl derivatives of salicylic acid. The supramolecular organization of the riluzole salt containing 2,6-dihydroxybenzoic acid differs from that of the solid forms with 2,4- and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acids. Because the second OH group is not at position 6 in the latter crystals, intermolecular charge-assisted hydrogen bonds are formed. According to periodic DFT calculations, the enthalpy of these H-bonds exceeds 30 kJ·mol-1. The positional isomerism appears to have little effect on the enthalpy of the primary supramolecular synthon (65-70 kJ·mol-1), but it does result in the formation of a two-dimensional network of hydrogen bonds and an increase in the overall lattice energy. According to the results of the present study, 2,6-dihydroxybenzoic acid can be treated as a promising counterion for the design of pharmaceutical multicomponent crystals.

Virtual Screening, Structural Analysis, and Formation Thermodynamics of Carbamazepine Cocrystals.

In this study, the existing set of carbamazepine (CBZ) cocrystals was extended through the successful combination of the drug with the positional isomers of acetamidobenzoic acid. The structural and energetic features of the CBZ cocrystals with 3- and 4-acetamidobenzoic acids were elucidated via single-crystal X-ray diffraction followed by QTAIMC analysis. The ability of three fundamentally different virtual screening methods to predict the correct cocrystallization outcome for CBZ was assessed based on the new experimental results obtained in this study and data available in the literature. It was found that the hydrogen bond propensity model performed the worst in distinguishing positive and negative results of CBZ cocrystallization experiments with 87 coformers, attaining an accuracy value lower than random guessing. The method that utilizes molecular electrostatic potential maps and the machine learning approach named CCGNet exhibited comparable results in terms of prediction metrics, albeit the latter resulted in superior specificity and overall accuracy while requiring no time-consuming DFT computations. In addition, formation thermodynamic parameters for the newly obtained CBZ cocrystals with 3- and 4-acetamidobenzoic acids were evaluated using temperature dependences of the cocrystallization Gibbs energy. The cocrystallization reactions between CBZ and the selected coformers were found to be enthalpy-driven, with entropy terms being statistically different from zero. The observed difference in dissolution behavior of the cocrystals in aqueous media was thought to be caused by variations in their thermodynamic stability.

Polymorphism of Carbamazepine Pharmaceutical Cocrystal: Structural Analysis and Solubility Performance.

Polymorphism is a common phenomenon among single- and multicomponent molecular crystals that has a significant impact on the contemporary drug development process. A new polymorphic form of the drug carbamazepine (CBZ) cocrystal with methylparaben (MePRB) in a 1:1 molar ratio as well as the drug's channel-like cocrystal containing highly disordered coformer molecules have been obtained and characterized in this work using various analytical methods, including thermal analysis, Raman spectroscopy, and single-crystal and high-resolution synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction. Structural analysis of the solid forms revealed a close resemblance between novel form II and previously reported form I of the [CBZ + MePRB] (1:1) cocrystal in terms of hydrogen bond networks and overall packing arrangements. The channel-like cocrystal was found to belong to a distinct family of isostructural CBZ cocrystals with coformers of similar size and shape. Form I and form II of the 1:1 cocrystal appeared to be related by a monotropic relationship, with form II being proven to be the thermodynamically more stable phase. The dissolution performance of both polymorphs in aqueous media was significantly enhanced when compared with parent CBZ. However, considering the superior thermodynamic stability and consistent dissolution profile, the discovered form II of the [CBZ + MePRB] (1:1) cocrystal seems a more promising and reliable solid form for further pharmaceutical development.

Felodipine-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane-water (1/1/1).

The title compound, C(18)H(19)Cl(2)NO(4)·C(6)H(12)N(2)·H(2)O, is a cocrystal hydrate containing the active pharmaceutical ingredient felodipine and diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO). The DABCO and water molecules are linked through O-H···N hydrogen bonds into chains around 2(1) screw axes, while the felodipine molecules form N-H···O hydrogen bonds to the water molecules. The felodipine molecules adopt centrosymmetric back-to-back arrangements that are similar to those present in all of its four reported polymorphs. The dichlorophenyl rings also form π-stacking interactions. The inclusion of water molecules in the cocrystal, rather than formation of N-H···N hydrogen bonds between felodipine and DABCO, may be associated with steric hindrance that would arise between DABCO and the methyl groups of felodipine if they were directly involved in hydrogen bonding.

Novel cocrystals of itraconazole: Insights from phase diagrams, formation thermodynamics and solubility.

In this work, the cocrystallization approach was applied to itraconazole (ITR), a very slightly soluble triazole antifungal drug, which led to the formation of two new solid forms of ITR with 4-aminobenzoic acid (4AmBA) and 4-hydroxybenzamide (4OHBZA). A thermodynamic analysis of the solid-liquid binary phase diagrams for the (ITR + 4AmBA) and (ITR + 4OHBZA) systems provided conclusive evidence of the cocrystal stoichiometry: 1:1 for the cocrystal with 4-aminobenzoic acid, and 1:2 for the cocrystal with 4-hydroxybenzamide. Powder X-Ray diffraction analysis confirmed the formation of two different polymorphic forms of the [ITR + 4OHBZA] (1:2) cocrystal obtained either through solution or melt crystallization. Cocrystal formation and polymorphic transition processes were investigated in detail by the DSC and HSM methods. The thermodynamic functions of cocrystal formation were estimated from the solubility of the cocrystals and the corresponding solubility of the pure compounds at different temperatures. The combination of ITR and 4OHBZA was found to be more favorable than the reaction between ITR and 4AmBA in terms of both Gibbs energy and enthalpy. The pH-solubility behavior of the cocrystals was investigated at different pH values using eutectic concentrations of the components and the cocrystal solubility advantage was estimated. It was found that the cocrystallization of itraconazole with 4OHBZA and 4AmBA can potentially increase the drug solubility at pH1.2 and 37 °C by 225 and 64 times, respectively. The cocrystal dissolution behavior in biorelevant media was analyzed in terms of Cmax, σmax parameters (the maximum ITR concentration and supersaturation), and AUC (the concentration area under the curve during the dissolution - supersaturation - precipitation process). The cocrystals had similar σmax values during the dissolution and sustained supersaturation for up to 6 h, which gave them an advantage in the AUC values (13-37 times higher) over the drug. The differences in the dissolution profiles of the cocrystals were rationalized in terms of their dissolution rate values.

Energetic aspects of diclofenac acid in crystal modifications and in solutions--mechanism of solvation, partitioning and distribution.

Temperature dependency of saturated vapor pressure and heat capacity for the diclofenac acid (Form II) were measured and thermodynamic functions of sublimation calculated (DeltaG(sub)(298) = 49.3 kJ x mol(-1); DeltaH(sub)(298) = 115.6 +/- 1.3 kJ x mol(-1); DeltaS(sub)(298) = 222 +/- 4 J x mol(-1) x K(-1)). Crystal polymorphic Forms I (P2(1)/c) and II (C2/c) of diclofenac acid have been prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction experiments. The difference between crystal lattice energies of the two forms were obtained by solution calorimetry: DeltaDeltaH(sol)(I --> II) = 1.6 +/- 0.4 kJ x mol(-1). Temperature dependencies of the solubility in buffers with pH 2.0 and 7.4, n-octanol and n-hexane were measured. The thermodynamic functions of solubility, solvation, and transfer processes were deduced. Specific and non-specific solvation terms were distinguished using the transfer from the "inert" n-hexane to the other solvents. The transfer of diclofenac acid molecules from the buffers to n-octanol (partitioning and distribution) is an entropy driven process.

Thermodynamic properties of flufenamic and niflumic acids--specific and non-specific interactions in solution and in crystal lattices, mechanism of solvation, partitioning and distribution.

Temperature dependency of saturated vapour pressure and the thermochemical characteristics of the fusion process were measured for flufenamic acid and niflumic acid, and thermodynamic functions of sublimation, fusion and evaporation calculated. An approach to split specific and non-specific energetic terms in crystal lattices is developed. The melting points of the considered molecules correlate with the ratio between specific and non-specific interactions in crystal lattices. Temperature dependencies of the solubility in buffers with pH 2.0 and 7.4, in n-octanol and in n-hexane were measured. The thermodynamic functions of solubility, solvation and transfer processes were deduced. Specific and non-specific solvation terms were distinguished by the transfer from "inert"n-hexane to the other solvents. Comparison of the ratio between specific and non-specific interactions in solid state and in the solutions was carried out. A diagram to analyse energetic terms of partitioning and distribution processes is introduced.

Cocrystal formation, crystal structure, solubility and permeability studies for novel 1,2,4-thiadiazole derivative as a potent neuroprotector.

The cocrystallization approach has been applied to modify the poor solubility profile of the biologically active 1,2,4-thiadiazole derivative (TDZ). Extensive cocrystal screening with a library of coformers resulted in formation of a new solid form of TDZ with vanillic acid in a 1:1 molar ratio. The cocrystalline phase was identified and characterized by thermal and diffraction analyses including single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The energies of intermolecular interactions in the crystal were calculated by solid-state DFT and PIXEL methods. Both calculation schemes show good consistency in terms of total energy of the intermolecular interactions and suggest that the cocrystal is mainly stabilized via hydrogen bonds, which provide ca. 44% of the lattice energy. Since the cocrystal contained the hydroxybenzoic acid derivative as a coformer, the solubility profile of the cocrystal was investigated at different pHs using eutectic concentrations of the components. Furthermore, the influence of the cocrystallization on the permeability performance of the 1,2,4-thiadiazole through an artificial regenerated cellulose membrane was also evaluated. In addition, the thermodynamic functions of the cocrystal formation were estimated from the solubility of the cocrystal and the corresponding solubility of the pure compounds at various temperatures. The cocrystal formation process was found to have a relatively small value of the driving force (-5.3kJ·mol-1). The most significant contribution to the Gibbs energy was provided by the exothermic enthalpy of formation.

Pharmaceutical salts of ciprofloxacin with dicarboxylic acids.

New salts of antibiotic drug ciprofloxacin (CIP) with pharmaceutically acceptable maleic (Mlt), fumaric (Fum) and adipic (Adp) acids were obtained and their crystal structures were determined. The crystal lattices of the fumarate and adipate salts were found to accommodate the water molecules, while the maleate salt was anhydrous. The dehydration and melting processes were analyzed by means of differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis. Solubility and intrinsic dissolution rates of the salts were measured in pharmaceutically relevant buffer solutions with pH 1.2 and pH 6.8. Under acidic conditions, the salts were found to be less soluble than the parent form of drug, while the [CIP+Fum+H2O] and [CIP+Mlt] solids showed enhanced dissolution rate when compared to a commercially available ciprofloxacin hydrochloride hydrate. In the pH 6.8 solution, all the salts demonstrated solubility improvement and faster dissolution rate with respect to pure CIP.

Crystal structure analysis and sublimation thermodynamics of bicyclo derivatives of a neuroprotector family.

The crystal structures of three new structurally related drug-like bicyclo derivatives are correlated with measured thermodynamic quantities for their sublimation and melting processes. The sublimation thermodynamics are determined using the temperature dependencies of the vapour pressure, and the melting processes are examined using differential scanning calorimetry. The three compounds contain a common N-(3-thia-1-azabicyclo[3.3.1]non-2-ylidene)aniline core, with either a CH3, F or CF3 substituent at the 4-position of the aniline ring. Lattice energy calculations are made using both the PIXEL and Coulomb-London-Pauli (CLP) models, and the conformational flexibility of the molecules is examined using gas-phase density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The experimentally measured crystal lattice energies (ΔH(0)sub) decrease in the order: CH3 > F > CF3. The calculated lattice energies using the PIXEL approach are in good agreement with the experimental values, and the partitioned intermolecular interaction energies suggest that dispersion contributions dominate the crystal structures of all three compounds. The sublimation energies and melting points are inversely correlated for the three molecules, with the melting points increasing in the order CF3 < F < CH3.

Novel 1,2,4-thiadiazole derivatives: crystal structure, conformational analysis, hydrogen bond networks, calculations, and thermodynamic characteristics of crystal lattices.

The results of X-ray crystallographic and computational studies of twelve 1,2,4-thiadiazole derivatives are reported. The effect of orientation of different parts of the molecules on crystal organization and hydrogen bond network were studied. DFT calculations were carried out in order to explore conformational preferences of the molecules inside and outside of crystal environment. The role of hydrogen bonds was found to be essential for the stabilization of conformationally strained molecules as well as for the packing density of such molecules in a crystal. Thermodynamic aspects of sublimation processes of the studied compounds were analyzed using temperature dependencies of their vapor pressure. Thermophysical characteristics of the molecular crystals were obtained and compared with the sublimation enthalpy and the structural parameters. The influence of crystal structure features on the sublimation enthalpy and on the melting temperature was analyzed.

Thermodynamic and structural study of tolfenamic acid polymorphs.

The article deals with the study of two polymorphic modifications in the space groups P2(1)/c (white form) and P2(1)/n (yellow form) of the tolfenamic acid. It also describes how the white form vapor pressure temperature dependence was determined by using the transpiration method and how thermodynamic parameters of the sublimation process were calculated. We have estimated the difference between the crystal lattice energies of the two polymorphic forms by solution calorimetry and found that the crystal lattice energy of the yellow form is 6.7+/-1.2 kJ mol(-1) higher than that of the white form, whereas Gibbs free energies of the forms obtained from the vapor pressure temperature dependence are practically the same. The modifications under consideration are monotropically related. From the practical point of view, the white form is more preferable due to its lower crystal lattice energy and better performing procedure. We have also studied the solubility, solvation and transfer processes of the tolfenamic acid white form in buffers (with various values of pH and ionic strengths), n-hexane and n-octanol. The thermodynamic parameters of the investigated processes have been discussed and compared with those determined for others fenamates. In the study we estimated specific and non-specific contributions of the solvation enthalpic term of the fenamate molecules with the solvents as well. The driving forces of the transfer processes from the buffers with pH 7.4 and different ionic strengths to n-octanol were analyzed. It was found that the relationship between the enthalpic and entropic terms depends essentially on the ionic strength. For the considered fenamates the transfer processes of the neutral molecules and the ionic forms are enthalpy-determined, whereas for the niflumic acid this process is entropy-determined.