Date of Thesis
Summer 2024
Description
Pharmaceutical polymorphism, the ability of drug molecules to assume different crystal structures based on their spatial arrangement, remains a critical challenge in the development of solid-state small-molecule active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Compressibility differences affect tablet manufacturing and limits the amount of API that can be pressed into a stable tablet, while differences in polymorph solubility can lead to failure to deliver a therapeutic dose. One method to control pharmaceutical polymorphism is to using heterogenous nucleation with a designed surface structure. This project makes use of bifunctional 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) to anchor a series of aldehyde-containing molecules to a silica substrate using covalent surface immobilization and reversible imine formation. Various methods of surface treatment and surface group exchange were compared. Once prepared, the effect of imine-APTES silica substrates on crystal nucleation of the model pharmaceutical acetaminophen was explored using melt recrystallization. Nucleated polymorphs of acetaminophen were investigated using powder X-ray diffraction, and analyses of nucleation onset were performed to establish how surface functionality impacts crystal growth.
Keywords
pharmaceutical, polymorphism, surface functionalization, acetaminophen, heterogeneous nucleation, surface chemistry
Access Type
Masters Thesis (Bucknell Access Only)
Degree Type
Master of Science
Major
Chemistry
First Advisor
Dr. Brian J. Smith
Recommended Citation
Clegg, Benjamin T., "Modular Solution Functionalization of Silica Surfaces to Control Heterogeneous Nucleation of Acetaminophen" (2024). Master’s Theses. 280.
https://digitalcommons.bucknell.edu/masters_theses/280