Polymorph prediction process

Figure 5 Flowchart describing the general polymorph prediction process.

So far the emphasis has been on solving the crystal structure from the knowledge of the unit cell and ionic content. The motivation for this work is to provide an automated procedure to help determine or solve the crystal structure of new compounds that are synthesised in a powder form. Of course the methods developed can generate other structural topologies and perhaps a new, yet to be synthesised, crystal structure. However, the task has been to solve a particular structure and so one might extract more information from the experimental data to aid the prediction process (e.g. use of symmetry elements). Thus, the number of unwanted possible (meta)stable structures, or polymorphs, that could be generated may be reduced. In this section, the emphasis is on finding all the important polymorphs for a particular chemical formula. 

These sets of calculations highlight some important points with respect to crystal structure prediction. First, various high levels of ab initio theory are required to estimate the gas-phase conformations and energy differences. Second, the molecular conformation adopted in the crystal structure could be close to a local minimum (not the global minimum) found in the gas phase ab initio energy calculation. Hence, it is necessary to rigorously explore potential conformers of a particular molecule before structure prediction. Otherwise, it is likely that potential polymorphs will be missed by the prediction process because energy barriers may not be surmounted between conformations. 

As discussed in section 2.4.4 the coordinating ability of a solvent will often affect the rate of nucleation and crystal growth differently between two polymorphs. This can be used as an effective means of process control and information on solvent effects can often be obtained from polymorph screening experiments. There are no theoretical methods available at the present time which accurately predict the effect of solvents on nucleation rates in the industrial environment. 

Polymorphs and solvated crystals is generally observed in pharmacentical indnstry [1], The bioavailability, stability, solnbility, and morphology of the pharmacentical products are very influenced by polymorphs [2-7], therefore the control of the polymorphic crystallization is very important. The crystallization process of polymorphs and solvated crystals is composed of competitive nucleation, growth, and transformation from a meta-stable form to a stable form [4], Furthermore, the crystallization behavior is influenced by various controlling factors such as temperature, supersaturation, additives and solvents [8], In order to perform the selective crystallization of the polymorphs, the mechanism of each elementary step in the crystallization process and the key controlling factor needs to be elucidated [8], On the other hand, we reported for L-Glutamic acid and L-Histidine system previously [4] that the nucleation and transformation behaviors of polymorphs depend on the molecular stractures. If the relationship between molecular stmcture and polymorphic crystallization behavior is known, the prediction of the polymorphism may become to be possible for the related compound. However, detail in such relationship is not clearly understood. 

Ideally all subsequent batches will be prepared by the route and process used for tox and/or Phase 1 batches, so that on-scale impurities and impurity profiles will meet the guidelines above. Of course it is difficult to predict the final optimized process for a dmg candidate. The best approach to control impurities is to determine the optimal starting materials, reagents, process, and final form (salt, polymorph) early ( freeze the final step... 

In 1946 Ya.B. pointed out (14) a possible case where the opposite situation occurs. This happens near the critical point where the differences between a vapor and a fluid are obliterated. In a substance under near-critical conditions rarefaction should propagate as a discontinuity, and compression— as a continuous process. Many years later, at the end of the seventies, this prediction of Ya.B. was confirmed experimentally in Novosibirsk by a group working under Academician S. S. Kutateladze. At present, only two cases are known when rarefaction shocks occur in solid bodies in the region of polymorphous transformations (this had been observed long ago), and near the critical point, as Ya.B. predicted. 

In spite of these caveats, there is intense activity in the application of these methods to polymorphic systems and considerable progress has been made. Two general approaches to the use of these methods in the study of polymorphism may be distinguished. In the first, the methods are utilized to compute the energies of the known crystal structures of polymorphs to evaluate lattice energies and determine the relative stabilities of different modifications. By comparison with experimental thermodynamic data, this approach can be used to evaluate the methods and force fields employed. The ofher principal application has been in fhe generation of possible crystal structures for a substance whose crystal structure is not known, or which for experimental reasons has resisted determination. Such a process implies a certain ability to predict the crystal structure of a system. However, the intrinsically approximate energies of different polymorphs, the nature of force fields, and the inherent imprecision and inaccuracy of the computational method still limit the efificacy of such an approach (Lommerse et al. 2000). Nevertheless, in combination with other physical data, in particular the experimental X-ray powder diffraction pattern, these computational methods provide a potentially powerful approach to structure determination. The first approach is the one applicable to the study of conformational polymorphs. The second is discussed in more detail at the end of this chapter. 

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