Molecular Mechanism of Crystalline-to-Amorphous Conversion of Pharmaceutical Solids from 19F Magic Angle Spinning NMR

J Phys Chem B. 2020 Jun 25;124(25):5271-5283. doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcb.0c02131. Epub 2020 May 19.

Abstract

Crystalline and amorphous materials usually possess distinct physicochemical properties due to major variations in long-range and local molecular packings. Enhanced fundamental knowledge of the molecular details of crystalline-to-amorphous interconversions is necessary to correlate the intermolecular structure to material properties and functions. While crystal structures can be readily obtained by X-ray crystallography, the microstructure of amorphous materials has rarely been explored due to a lack of high-resolution techniques capable of probing local molecular structures. Moreover, there is increasing interest in understanding the molecular nature of amorphous solids in pharmaceutical sciences due to the widespread utilization of amorphous active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in pharmaceutical development for solubility and bioavailability enhancement. In this study, we explore multidimensional 13C and 19F magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectroscopy to study the molecular packing of amorphous posaconazole (POSA) in conjunction with the crystalline counterpart. Utilizing methods integrating homonuclear and heteronuclear 1H, 13C, and 19F correlation spectroscopy and atomic 19F-to-13C distance measurements, we identified the major differences in molecular packing between crystalline and amorphous POSA. The intermolecular "head-to-head" interaction along the molecule's major axis, as well as the "head-to-tail" molecular packing perpendicular to the major axis in POSA crystals, was recapitulated by MAS NMR. Furthermore, critical intermolecular distances in the crystal lattice were determined. Most importantly, the head-to-tail contact of two neighboring molecules was found to be preserved in amorphous POSA, suggesting localized molecular order, whereas crucial interactions for head-to-head packing are absent in the amorphous form resulting in long-range disorder. Our study, likely one of the first documented examples, provides molecular-level structural details to understand the molecular mechanism of crystalline-to-amorphous conversion of fluorine-containing drug substances occurring in drug processing and development and establish a high-resolution experimental protocol for investigating amorphous materials.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Fluorine*
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging*
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
  • Molecular Structure
  • Pharmaceutical Preparations*

Substances

  • Pharmaceutical Preparations
  • Fluorine