Characterization, Solubility, and Hygroscopicity of a Pharmaceutical Compound

  • Crystallization
  • 20 March 2025, Available on demand

About the webinar

In this webinar, guest speaker Martha Grover from Georgia Institute of Technology presented her recently published research on Characterization, Solubility, and Hygroscopicity of BMS-817399 [1].

In the research, characteristics of BMS-817399 that could influence the potential utility of the compound as active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) have been explored. The compound exists as a monohydrate (Form 1) but is physically unstable, as its crystal structure changes with variations in relative humidity and temperature. Thus, identifying a form that remains physically stable under fluctuating conditions of relative humidity was the objective of this work.

Solubilities of Form 1 in ethanol, isopropanol, acetone, and acetonitrile were obtained using a Crystal16 apparatus, but recrystallization only occurred at the condition investigated when the solvent was acetonitrile. XRD of solids from recrystallization in the Crystal16 apparatus and from larger-scale experiments confirmed the existence of a new form (Form 2) of the compound. Solubilities of Form 2 were subsequently determined using the Crystal16 apparatus. DSC and TGA confirmed Form 1 as a monohydrate and showed that Form 2 is anhydrous. Dynamic vapor sorption was used to show that the water content of Form 1 varied with relative humidity. Form 2 also became hygroscopic at elevated relative humidity, but XRD measurements confirmed that it exhibited physical stability.

[1] Publication: “Characterization, Solubility, and Hygroscopicity of BMS-817399,” R. Prasad, S. Kocevska, D. Skliar, M. A. Grover, R. W. Rousseau, Organic Process Research and Development, 28(8), 3119–3127 (2024). 

Watch the webinar video recording using the form on this page or download the webinar presentation slides from the Publications section.

Download webinar presentation slides

Guest speaker

Martha Grover

Martha Grover is a Professor in the School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at Georgia Tech, and Associate Chair for Graduate Studies.  She is the ADVANCE Professor for the College of Engineering and the Thomas Fanning Chair for Equity-Centered Engineering. She earned her BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and her MS and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Caltech.  She joined Georgia Tech as an Assistant Professor in 2003.  In 2011 she received the Outstanding Young Researcher Award from the Computing and Systems Technology Division of AIChE, and in 2018 the Himmelblau Award for Innovations in Computer-Based Chemical Engineering Education.  Her research program is dedicated to understanding, modeling, and engineering the self-assembly of atoms and small molecules to create larger scale structures and complex functionality.  Her approach draws on process systems engineering, combining modeling and experiments in applications dominated by kinetics, including crystal growth and film deposition with applications in pharmaceutical manufacture and nuclear waste immobilization.

Watch webinar recording