Quantification methods of amorphous/crystalline fractions in high-energy ball milled pharmaceutical products

In this work, thermoanalytical, diffractometry, and microscopy measurements have been performed in order to characterize the effect of high energy milling on a drug active in the migraine prophylaxis and smoke cessation. We can assert that the mechanical treatment induces only a partial amorphisation of the solid phase, in particular it reduces the crystal order by producing lattice defects which propagate from the surface to the bulk crystal. For this reason, the DSC is able to detect the presence of ordered solid, while the powder X-ray diffractometry, because of its low penetration depth, does not reach the crystalline core of the particles.     

A corresponding states principle-based equation for the surface tension of Alkenes

This study presents a new formula for the surface tension prediction of alkenes. As a first step, an analysis of the available data of the experimental surface tension data for alkenes was performed. The experimental data were collected, after a careful literature survey, for the following pure fluids: propene, 1-hexene, 1-heptene, 1-octene, 1-decene, 1-tetradecene, and 1-pentadecene. Then, the experimental data were regressed with the most reliable semi-empirical correlating methods based on the corresponding state theory existing in the literature. As a final step, an analysis of the available data of the experimental surface tension data for alkenes was performed starting from the two recently proposed equations for the prediction of the surface tension of refrigerants based on the corresponding states principle. To minimize the deviation between the predicted data and the experimental data and to find the optimal equation coefficients for experimental data regression, a (μ + λ)-evolution strategy was adopted. The analysis showed that the equation that gave the best results for the prediction of the surface tension of alkenes was the one with a very limited number of parameters. The finally proposed equation is very simple and gives a noticeable improvement with respect to the existing equations. It is based on the corresponding state principle, containing the acentric factor, the critical temperature, and pressure.     

Some remarks on equilibrium state in dynamic condition

For dehydration of CaC₂O₄·H₂O and thermal dissociation of CaCO₃ carried out in Mettler Toledo TGA/SDTA-851^e/STAR^e thermobalance similar experimental conditions was applied: 9–10 heating rates, q = 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 6, 12, 24, 30, and 36 K min⁻¹, for sample mass 10 mg, in nitrogen atmosphere (100 ml min⁻¹) and in Al₂O₃ crucibles (70 μl). There were analyzed changes of typical TGA quantities, i.e., T, TG and DTG in the form of the relative rate of reaction/process intended to be analyzed on-line by formula (10). For comparative purposes, the relationship between experimental and equilibrium conversion degrees was used (for P = P^ominus P = P^{{ominus}} ). It was found that the solid phase decomposition proceeds in quasi-equilibrium state and enthalpy of reaction is easily “obscured” by activation energy. For small stoichiometric coefficients on gas phase side (here: ν = 1) discussed decomposition processes have typical features of phenomena analyzable by known thermokinetic methods.     

The effect of water molecule on the thermal stability of lanthanide compounds with 1,3-benzeneditetrazol-5-yl

Six lanthanide compounds [Ln(H₂O)₉](m-BDTH)₃·9(H₂O) where Ln = La (1), and [Ln(H₂O)₈](m-BDTH)₃·9(H₂O) (m-BDTH₂ = 1,3-benzeneditetrazol-5-yl) where Ln = Lu (2), Yb (3), Er (4), Ho (5) and Y (6) were hydrothermally synthesized and characterized by elemental analyses, infrared spectra, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and X-ray single crystal diffraction. PXRD indicates that 2–6 are isomorphous. Structural analyses reveal that 1 is coordinated by nine water molecules forming a capped-square antiprism, while 2–6 are coordinated by eight water molecules forming a simple square antiprismatic geometry. Effects of water molecules on thermal stability were also discussed by thermogravimetric (TG), DSC, and PXRD under different temperatures. TG analyses suggest that 1 loses lattice and coordinated water molecules with no diacritical boundary, and 6 removes lattice water molecules first and then coordinated water molecules. DSC and PXRD further confirm the consequence.