An overview of recent studies on the analysis of pharmaceutical polymorphs

Pharmaceutical solids are well known to be able to exist in different solid-state forms and there are a wide variety of solid-state analytical techniques available to characterize pharmaceutical solids and solid-state transformations. In this review, the commonly used solid-state analytical techniques, the type of information collected, and advantages and disadvantages of each technique are discussed, with the focus on their application in solid-state characterization and monitoring solid-state transformations, such as amorphization, crystallization, hydrate formation/dehydration and cocrystal formation. The information gathered from recent literature is compiled in various tables to aid the reader to get a quick overall picture about what type of phenomena have recently been studied and which analytical technique(s) have been used. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.