DSC can be a tool for analyzing pharmaceuticals for quality control, research and development, and product characterization.
In addition to a drug’s composition, its exact crystal structure and phase are important and are described in patents. Small changes in humidity and composition can affect the structure, resulting in a different product with a different mechanism of action.
In this example, sorbitol—a synthetic C-6 sugar alcohol commonly used as a sugar substitute in confectionery and diet products, and as a carrier for pharmaceuticals—was analyzed using Chip-DSC 10 (Chip-DSC L66 Advanced) equipped with a quench cooler.
The purpose of the measurement was to demonstrate the effect of moisture content on the product’s structure.
Two samples—one with a water content of 5.4% and one anhydrous sample—were measured from -70 °C to +50 °C. It can be seen that the glass transition temperature of anhydrous sorbitol (blue curve) drops from -3.9 °C to -28.7 °C when the sample contains 5.4% water (red curve).
This can also affect the crystal structure of the solid and may be important for storage conditions.
