Application of mid-IR spectroscopy for the characterization of pharmaceutical systems

In this article, the use of mid-IR in pharmaceutical settings is reviewed. An overview of mid-IR instrumentation and sampling techniques is provided. Subsequently, different pharmaceutical applications of the technique are described, including structure elucidation and identification, characterization of crystalline (polymorphs, hydrates, salts and co-crystals) and amorphous forms, as well as quantitative and remote sensing applications. Finally, an overview of current trends in FTIR-based imaging applications is provided, with special attention paid to currently emerging FTIR-AFM coupled techniques which have high spatial resolution. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.