Drugs, as with many molecular compounds, often exist in different crystal forms, and in these different forms they will exhibit different chemical and physical properties. Different solubilities and dissolution rates result in different absorption rates so the ability to control what form crystals take on, is of key importance throughout many stages of the pharmaceutical industry.
This HOT paper from Braga, Grepioni et al. looks at the crystal structures of four crystal forms of the synthetic antibiotic rifaximin. The study increases our understanding of how water molecules interact with rifaximin and/or amongst themselves in the crystal packing as well as providing information on the phase relationship of the hydration-dehydration process.
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The structure–property relationship of four crystal forms of rifaximin
Dario Braga, Fabrizia Grepioni, Laura Chelazzi, Manuela Campana, Donatella Confortini and Giuseppe C. Viscomi
CrystEngComm, 2012
DOI: 10.1039/C2CE25920F, Paper
You might also find our recent themed issue on Crystal engineering and crystallography in the pharmaceutical industry interesting.
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