ReviewPost screenSimultaneous screening and detection of pharmaceutical co-crystals by the one-step DSC-FTIR microspectroscopic technique

•A powerful method combining FTIR microspectroscopy with thermal analysis is introduced.•One-step DSC-FTIR technique can simultaneously and directly screen and detect pharmaceutical co-crystal formation.•Schematic steps of design, screening and characterization of co-crystal formation have been proposed.•This one-step real-time DSC-FTIR technique could be applied at the early stages of co-crystal searching.

Various methods and analytical techniques for the preparation and identification of pharmaceutical co-crystals have been applied, but these operations require considerable time for the screening and preparation of co-crystals. In this review, a powerful method that combines Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy with thermal analysis is introduced. This unique one-step real-time differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)-FTIR microspectroscopic approach has been successfully applied to simultaneously and directly screen and detect pharmaceutical co-crystal formation in systems such as indomethacin-saccharin, indomethacin-nicotinamide, carbamazepine-glutaric-acid, metaxalone-succinic-acid and piroxicam-saccharin. This powerful one-step DSC-FTIR combined technique provides an easy and direct method for one-step screening and qualitative detection of co-crystal formation in real time.

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