Phenolic Acids as Methylxanthines Cocrystals Solubility Enhancers

What is it about?

Applicability of phenolic acids as potential cocrystal formers for methylxanthine derivatives was analyzed both in terms of cocrystallization probabilities and solubility advantage. The cocrystal formation abilities were evaluated using mixing enthalpy, and the solubility improvement of potential cocrystals was assessed based on an observed highly linear relationship between theophylline and caffeine cocrystal solubility advantage and computed cocrystals dissolution in water.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

The solubility improvement of potential cocrystals was estimated by formulation of the model relating experimental values to predicted solubilities. This enabled for ranking of potential cocrystals formers according to their solubility enhancement potential. According to the calculation results, a highly linear relationship (R2 = 0.989) was found between estimated theophylline and caffeine cocrystal solubility values. It has been found that many phenolic acids, especially ones with several hydroxyl groups attached to phenyl ring, are the most promising candidates for cocrystallization with caffeine or theophylline.