Solid-state NMR (SSNMR) can provide detailed structural information about amorphous solid dispersions of pharmaceutical small molecules. In this study, the ability of SSNMR experiments based on dipolar correlation, spin diffusion, and relaxation measurements to characterize the structure of solid dispersions is explored. Observation of spin diffusion effects using the 2D (1)H-(13)C cross-polarization heteronuclear correlation (CP-HETCOR) experiment is shown to be a useful probe of association between the amorphous drug and polymer that is capable of directly proving glass solution formation. Dispersions of acetaminophen and indomethacin in different polymers are examined using this approach, as well as (1)H double-quantum correlation experiments to probe additional structural features. (1)H-(19)F CP-HETCOR serves a similar role for fluorinated drug molecules such as diflunisal in dispersions, providing a rapid means to prove the formation of a glass solution. Phase separation is detected using (13)C, (19)F, and (23)Na-detected (1)H T(1) experiments in crystalline and amorphous solid dispersions that contain small domains. (1)H T(1) measurements of amorphous nanosuspensions of trehalose and dextran illustrate the ability of SSNMR to detect domain size effects in dispersions that are not glass solutions via spin diffusion effects. Two previously unreported amorphous solid dispersions involving up to three components and containing voriconazole and telithromycin are analyzed using these experiments to demonstrate the general applicability of the approach.

Solid-state analysis with powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), solid-state NMR (SSNMR), and other spectroscopic and physical methods can provide detailed structural information about organic and pharmaceutical cocrystals. In this study, a range of solid-state analysis methods are used to characterize co-crystallized solid solutions of 5-fluorouracil and thymine. 1H, 13C and 19F SSNMR and PXRD methods are used to study the structure and disorder present in a solid solution previously prepared by solution evaporation methods; here the solid solution is prepared over a wider stoichiometric range by solvent-drop grinding techniques. Long-range perturbations of key chemical shifts are detectable by SSNMR, indicating that the solid solution is not random. Cross-polarization and heteronuclear correlation SSNMR experiments between 1H, 13C, and 19F nuclei offer insight into the structure of this solid solution, and density functional theory (DFT) methods are applied to calculate lattice energies and NMR properties in order to understand the population of the two primary disordered sites in the crystal structure. In addition, a second solid solution of 5-fluorouracil and thymine is reported and analyzed. This solid solution, which was produced by solvent-drop grinding experiments and characterized by SSNMR and powder X-ray diffraction methods, is determined to be an isostructural phase to that of anhydrous thymine with the inclusion of 5-fluorouracil defects. A similar effect does not occur under excess 5-fluorouracil conditions; instead, phase-separated Form 1 of 5-fluorouracil and anhydrous thymine are obtained. DFT calculations are applied to offer a possible explanation for this disparity.