Thermal behavior of drugs

Data on the thermal stability of drugs was required to obtain information for handling, storage, shelf life and usage. In this study, the thermal stability of two nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) was determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and simultaneous thermogravimetery/differential thermal analysis (TG/DTA) techniques. The results of TG analysis revealed that the main thermal degradation for the naproxen and celecoxib occurs in the temperature ranges of 196–300 and 245–359 °C, respectively. The TG/DTA analysis of compounds indicates that naproxen melts (at about 158.1 °C) before it decomposes. However, the thermal decomposition of the celecoxib started about 185 °C after its melting. The influence of the heating rate (5, 10, 15, and 20 °C min⁻¹) on the DSC behavior of the both drug samples was verified. The results showed that, as the heating rate was increased, decomposition temperatures of the compounds were increased. Also, the kinetic parameters such as activation energy and frequency factor for the compounds were obtained from the DSC data by non-isothermal methods proposed by ASTM E696 and Ozawa. Based on the values of activation energy obtained by various methods, the following order for the thermal stability was noticed: naproxen > celecoxib. Finally, the values of ΔS ^#, ΔH ^#, and ΔG ^# of their decomposition reaction were calculated.