Observation of neutral, ionic and intermediate states in lamotrigine-acid complexes- inference from crystallographic bond geometries

• Three novel acid complexes with active pharmaceutical ingredient lamotrigine are reported.
• Geometrical bond descriptors are utilized to differentiate neutral, ionic and intermediate states.
• Complete proton transfer is seen in I and II and only partial proton transfer in III.
• The most favored lamotrigine-acid heterosynthon and lamotrigine-lamotrigine homosynthon are observed.
• The observation of intermediate state can have a direct impact to the pharmaceutical industry.

The anticonvulsant and antiepileptic drug lamotrigine was crystallized with three aromatic acids viz., 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (I), para-toluenesulfonic acid (II) and 4-bromobenzoic acid (III), with the objective of understanding the formation of a salt or co-crystal in the solid state. Single crystal X-ray diffraction and FT-infrared spectroscopic measurements were carried out for all of them. The asymmetric units of I and II contain two lamotriginium cations and two anions (2,5-dihydroxybenzoate in I and para-toluenesulfonate in II), respectively, and additionally II contains one water molecule. The asymmetric unit of III comprises one lamotriginium cation, one 4-bromobenzoate anion and one dimethylformamide (DMF) solvate. In all three complexes the protonation occurs at the N2 atom of the triazine ring. In I and II, the complete proton transfer is observed. However in III, only partial proton transfer is inferred from O to N because of the acidic H atom disorder. The protonation of lamotrigine is also confirmed by the unambiguous location of H atom from the difference Fourier map and as well as from the geometrical bond analysis. Further, various lamotrigine-acid complexes from the CSD were analyzed to establish a correlation between different ionization states (neutral, intermediate and ionic) and changes in the geometrical parameters. The bond angles of triazine ring in lamotrigine and bond distances of carboxylic acid are found to be the best descriptors for distinguishing all three ionization states, whereas, the bond angles of carboxylic acid have to failed to distinguish intermediate state from ionic. From hydrogen bonding point of view, only the lamotrigine-acid heterosynthon is observed in I and II, whereas in III, both lamotrigine-lamotrigine homosynthon and lamotrigine-acid heterosynthon are observed. In I, the cation–anion and anion–anion interactions form a supramolecular two-dimension hydrogen-bonded square grid network, while the water molecule of II cross-link the two-dimensional cation–anion hydrogen-bonded layers. In III, a pseudo-quadruple hydrogen bonding is formed with aid of DMF solvate.

The anticonvulsant and antiepileptic drug lamotrigine was crystallized with three aromatic acids viz., 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid, para-toluenesulfonic acid and 4-bromobenzoic acid (III), with the objective of understanding the formation of a salt or co-crystal in the solid state. The triazine bond angles of lamotrigine and bond distances of carboxylic acid are found to be the best descriptors for distinguishing all three ionization states, whereas, the bond angles of carboxylic acid have to failed to distinguish intermediate state from ionic.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide