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Syracuse University

EXPERIMENTAL AND COMPUTATIONAL ANALYSIS OF RELATIVE ENERGETIC STABILITIES OF CRYSTALLINE ANHYDROUS POLYMORPHS AND PSEUDOPOLYMORPHS

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

<p>The stability of pharmaceutical solids is impacted by the properties of both active and inactive ingredients. Given that the aqueous solubility of solid-state medicinal products can be directly linked to the component properties, it is prudent to carefully study these materials to predict bioavailability and shelf stability. The relative energetic stabilities of the molecular crystals of interest are governed by both the intermolecular forces and the molecular conformations within the structure. In this research, the electronic origins of crystalline stability were investigated using a combination of solid-state density functional theory (ss-DFT) and terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS). Terahertz spectroscopy of the lattice vibrations offers a sensitive probe of solid-state interactions and serves as a rigorous benchmark for testing the quality of the applied theoretical methods. Vibrational simulations of different polymorphic forms are also useful for investigating the relative thermodynamic stabilities of these structures. Through the calculation of Gibbs free energy versus temperature trends, it was possible to not only identify enantiotropic or monotropic relationships between polymorphs, but also the precise transition temperature linking enantiotropic pairs. These combined experimental and computational methods were extended to analyzing the relative stabilities of not only pure solids, but also cocrystals. The successful use of DFT for identifying relative stabilities of known crystal structures led to its use for crystal structure prediction. Overall, this work has demonstrated the extensive applicability of ss-DFT in the analysis of electronic and thermodynamic relationships within polymorphic and pseudopolymorhic systems. Application of this methodology to pharmaceutical solids has provided new insights into the most important contributors to the stabilities of these materials.</p>

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Level thesis:degree_level
Dissertation
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Chemistry
Year
2018

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Dierks, Teresa
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Lisa Manning
  • Timothy Korter

Subjects

dc:subject × 6

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Repository record dc:identifier
https://surface.syr.edu/etd/969
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:surface.syr.edu:etd-1970

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Syracuse University
Base URL
surface.syr.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Dierks, Teresa. EXPERIMENTAL AND COMPUTATIONAL ANALYSIS OF RELATIVE ENERGETIC STABILITIES OF CRYSTALLINE ANHYDROUS POLYMORPHS AND PSEUDOPOLYMORPHS. Dissertation thesis, 2018. https://surface.syr.edu/etd/969