Monotropic interconversion

In its heyday, DTA analysis was very useful for the study of compound polymorphism and in the characterization of solvate species of drug compounds. It was used to deduce the ability of polymorphs to undergo thermal interconversion, providing information that could be used to deduce whether the system in question was monotropic or enantiotropic in nature. For instance, the enthalpies of fusion and transition were measured for different polymorphs of sulfathiazole and methylprednisolone [24]. The DTA thermograms shown in Fig. 4.5 demonstrate that Form-I is metastable with respect to Form-II, even... 

Polymorphism is the ability of the same chemical substance to exist in different crystalline structures that have the same empirical composition [39,40]. It is now well established that DSC is one of the core technologies used to study the phenomenon. Polymorphic systems are often distinguished on the basis of the type of interconversion between the different forms, being classified as either enantiotropic or monotropic in nature. 

An example of monotropic behavior consists of the system formed by anhydrous ibuprofen lysinate [41,42], Figure 4.12 shows the DSC thermogram of this compound over the temperature range of 20-200°C, where two different endothermic transitions were noted for the substance (one at 63.7°C and the other at 180.1°C). A second cyclical DSC scan from 25 to 75°C demonstrated that the 64°C endotherm, generated on heating, had a complementary 62°C exotherm, formed on cooling (see Fig. 4.13). The superimposable character of the traces in the thermograms demonstrates that both these processes were reversible, and indicates that the observed transition is associated with an enantiotropic phase interconversion [41]. X-ray powder (XRPD) diffraction patterns acquired at room temperature, 70°C, and... 

Polymorphism can be classified into two types, enantiotropic and monotropic polymorphism. Each type involves two polymorphic forms or a polymorphic pair, whose interconversion is defined by a characteristic transition temperature. The temperature-dependent solid phase transformation is best understood by referring to the respective energy-temperature diagrams at constant pressure, as depicted in Figure 1 (3). 

Very complicated phase diagrams can arise when substances can exist in more than two crystalline polymorphs. In certain cases, some of the forms may be enantiotropic to each other, and monotropic to yet others. For instance, of the eight polymorphs of elemental sulfur, only the monoclinic and rhombic modifications exhibit enantiotropy and the possibility of reversible interconversion. All of the other forms are monotropic with respect to the monoclinic and rhombic forms and remain as metastable phases up to the melting point. 

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