The research herein presents an approach to stabilising reactive materials by engineering and designing strategies for forming multi-component materials containing the reactive molecules by use of their non-covalent intermolecular interactions. These interactions may be utilised as part of a design approach to create new materials of more beneficial physical and chemical properties for the desired application. The reactive materials focussed on in this research are organic peroxyacids, in particular peroxyacetic acid, meta-chloroperbenzoic acid and 6-phthalimidoperoxyhexanoic acid. The stabilities of these target materials under different conditions are probed to find a suitable environment for crystallisation experiments. Crystal structures of the materials were isolated and characterised and the peroxyacids were subsequently cocrystallised with materials chosen to interact with the target molecules to form new molecular complexes, including carboxylic acids, π stacking materials and metal salts. A hosting approach was also employed to form multi-component systems containing these materials, crystallising them with larger, stable, structure-generating compounds with the aim of intercalating the reactive molecules in their stable structure. To this end, urea based compounds, cyclodextrins and Montmorillonite clay were investigated as hosting materials. Candidate multi-component materials were synthesised which successfully retain peroxyacid reactivity. A second set of materials studied was agrichemicals, which also frequently have reactive character, in which a change in physical properties was pursued by the method of forming new crystalline complexes. Five new crystalline agrochemical molecular complexes were synthesised and tested for thermal stability in comparison to the original materials to assess for changes in properties of the multi-component materials.

yes / Despite the rising interest in pharmaceutical cocrystals in the past decade, there is a lack of research in the solid processing of cocrystals downstream to crystallization. Mechanical stress induced by unit operations such as milling could affect the integrity of the material. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of milling on pharmaceutical cocrystal and compare the performance of ball mill and jet mill, using caffeine-glutaric acid (1:1) cocrystal as the model compound. Our results show that ball milling induced polymorphic transformation from the stable Form II to the metastable Form I; whereas Form II remained intact after jet milling. Jet milling was found to be effective in reducing particle size but ball milling was unable to reduce the particle beyond certain limit even with increasing milling intensity. Heating effect during ball milling was proposed as a possible explanation for the difference in the performance of the two types of mill. The local increase in temperature beyond the polymorphic transformation temperature may lead to the conversion from stable to metastable form. At longer ball milling duration, the local temperature could exceed the melting point of Form I, leading to surface melting and subsequent recrystallization of Form I from the melt and agglomeration of the crystals. The findings in this study have broader implications on the selection of mill and interpretation of milling results for not only pharmaceutical cocrystals but pharmaceutical compounds in general.

Yes / Investigations of structural reactivity, molecular interactions and vibrational characterization of pharmaceutical drugs are helpful in understanding their behaviour. The aim of this study is to determine the molecular, electronic and chemical properties of the antibiotic drug nitrofurantoin (NF), after cocrystallisation with 3-aminobenzoic acid (3ABA) and to understand how those changes lead to variation of properties in the cocrystal NF–3ABA. NF–3ABA formation is explained by stabilization via the hydrogen-bond network between NF and 3ABA molecules. It is thoroughly characterized by IR, Raman and CP-MAS solid-state 13C NMR techniques, along with quantum chemical calculations. The results of IR, Raman, and 13C NMR analyses showed that imide N–H23 and C12[double bond, length as m-dash]O of NF interact with the acid C[double bond, length as m-dash]O and –OH groups in 3-ABA, respectively. Therefore the IR, Raman, and 13C NMR spectra verified the formation of N–H⋯O and O–H⋯O hydrogen bonds. To study hydrogen bonding interactions theoretically in NF–3ABA, two functionals B3LYP and wB97X-D have been used. A comparison is made between the results obtained by B3LYP and those predicted at the wB97X-D level. It is found that wB97X-D is best applied density functional theory (DFT) functional to describe the hydrogen bonding interactions. The strength and nature of hydrogen bonding in NF–3ABA have been analysed by quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) and natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis. To validate the results obtained by QTAIM theory and to study the long-range forces, such as van der Waals interactions, the steric effects in NF–3ABA, the reduced density gradient (RDG) and the isosurface have been plotted using Multiwfn software. QTAIM and isosurface analysis suggested that the hydrogen bonding interactions present in NF–3ABA are moderate in nature. The calculated HOMO–LUMO energy gap shows that NF–3ABA is more active than NF and 3ABA. Chemical reactivity descriptors are calculated to understand the various aspects of pharmacological sciences. Chemical reactivity parameters show that NF–3ABA is softer and chemically more reactive than NF. The results suggest that cocrystals can be a feasible alternative for positively changing the targeted physicochemical properties of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). / V. R. Vangala acknowledges the financial support of the Royal Society of Chemistry for mobility grant (2015/17).

Yes / Cocrystallization is an attractive approach to improving the physicochemical properties of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), which have great potential in drug development. Accordingly, there is a growing need to understand the physicochemical changes that occur upon co-crystallisation. This work focuses on the combined use of spectroscopy and density functional theory (DFT) calculations to understand the molecular structure, hydrogen bond interactions and physicochemical properties of a pharmaceutical cocrystal. Solid-state NMR (ssNMR) spectroscopy can provide detailed molecular structure information on pharmaceutical cocrystals and complexes. It is non-destructive and usually provides deep structural insights that complement well with vibrational spectroscopy. In this work, a cocrystal of an antibiotic drug, nitrofurantoin (NF), with 4-hydroxybenzoic acid (4HBA) is examined to understand the capability of multiple spectroscopic techniques such as infrared (IR), Raman and solid-state NMR spectroscopies, and to confirm the molecular structure and hydrogen bonding of cocrystal systems. The results of IR and Raman spectroscopy showed that for the cocrystal formation, NF and 4HBA molecules interact through N–H⋯O–H interactions between the imide N–H of nitrofurantoin and the phenolic –OH of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, and these interactions are also confirmed by natural bond orbital (NBO) and quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) analyses. It is critical to understand whether a given cocrystal, upon conceiving a modified crystalline structure compared to that of its API, shows enhanced physical and chemical properties or not. Computationally, it is found that the NF–4HBA cocrystal shows softer (more reactive) behaviour in comparison to NF as its cocrystal, NF–4HBA, has a low band gap in comparison to the API, NF. These results demonstrate that the quantum chemical approach predicts accurately how to relate cocrystal with its physical and chemical properties. / BSR meritorious fellowship scheme. The Newton-Bhabha PhD placement award (2017). The Royal Society Seed Corn Research Grant (2018-19)

The effects of polymer concentration and solvents on cocrystal morphology of low solubility drugs were investigated, both of which had an impact. The melting temperatures also decreased with increasing polymer concentration. Placing the binding agent, benzene, at different interfaces induced morphological changes, such as formation of porous cocrystals. Previously liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) has been reported as a hindrance in the crystallisation process impeding further development. A phase diagram was constructed, and different phases were categorised into 4 types. After separation of the highly concentrated amorphous Oil Phase II, it was prone to gradual crystallisation. Crystallisation took place over 30-60 minutes; this allowed the in-situ monitoring. A novel cocrystallisation technique was developed; from (LLPS). Cocrystals of indomethacin with saccharin and nicotinamide were obtained by mixing Oil Phase II with the coformers. In-situ monitoring by spectroscopic had gradual changes in spectra; characteristic peaks increased in height and area with the formation of crystals until the reaction was complete. With crystal formation, the XRD spectra gradually had a sharper baseline due to a decrease in the amorphous indomethacin. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra displayed several peaks coupling into one large hump together with increasing intensity as the sample crystallised. There was a shift in the peak absorbance of the pure drug crystals obtained from LLPS and the indomethacin:saccharin cocrystal obtained from LLPS. Amorphous stabilisation was achieved by mixing polymer (PVP) with Oil Phase II. There were no changes to the XRD diffractogram as the sample did not undergo crystallisation.

This project utilised a novel solvent-free continuous cocrystallisation (SFCC) method to manufacture pharmaceutical co-crystals. The objectives were to optimize the process towards achieving high co-crystal yields and to understand the behaviour of co-crystals under different conditions. Particular attention was paid to the development of near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy as a process analytical technology (PAT). Twin screw, hot melt extrusion was the base technique of the SFCC process. Changing parameters such as temperature, screw speed and screw geometry was important for improving the co-crystal yield. The level of mixing and shear was directly influenced by the screw geometry, whilst the screw speed was an important parameter for controlling the residence time of the material during hot melt extrusion. Ibuprofen – nicotinamide 1:1 cocrystals and carbamazepine – nicotinamide 1:1 co-crystals were successfully manufactured using the SFCC method. Characterisation techniques were important for this project, and NIR spectroscopy proved to be a convenient, accurate analytical technique for identifying the formation of co-crystals along the extruder barrel. Separate thermal and model shear deformation studies were also carried out to determine the effect of temperature and shear on co-crystal formation for several different pharmaceutical co-crystal pairs. Finally, NIR spectroscopy was used to create two partial least squares regression models, for predicting the 1:1 co-crystal yield of ibuprofen – nicotinamide and carbamazepine – nicotinamide, when in a powder mixture with the respective pure API. It is believed that the prediction models created in this project can be used to facilitate future in-line PAT studies of pharmaceutical co-crystals during different manufacturing processes.

This project utilised a novel solvent-free continuous cocrystallisation (SFCC) method to manufacture pharmaceutical co-crystals. The objectives were to optimize the process towards achieving high co-crystal yields and to understand the behaviour of co-crystals under different conditions. Particular attention was paid to the development of near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy as a process analytical technology (PAT). Twin screw, hot melt extrusion was the base technique of the SFCC process. Changing parameters such as temperature, screw speed and screw geometry was important for improving the co-crystal yield. The level of mixing and shear was directly influenced by the screw geometry, whilst the screw speed was an important parameter for controlling the residence time of the material during hot melt extrusion. Ibuprofen – nicotinamide 1:1 cocrystals and carbamazepine – nicotinamide 1:1 co-crystals were successfully manufactured using the SFCC method. Characterisation techniques were important for this project, and NIR spectroscopy proved to be a convenient, accurate analytical technique for identifying the formation of co-crystals along the extruder barrel. Separate thermal and model shear deformation studies were also carried out to determine the effect of temperature and shear on co-crystal formation for several different pharmaceutical co-crystal pairs. Finally, NIR spectroscopy was used to create two partial least squares regression models, for predicting the 1:1 co-crystal yield of ibuprofen – nicotinamide and carbamazepine – nicotinamide, when in a powder mixture with the respective pure API. It is believed that the prediction models created in this project can be used to facilitate future in-line PAT studies of pharmaceutical co-crystals during different manufacturing processes. / Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)