Solid-state NMR spectroscopy in pharmaceutical sciences
Mingyue Li, Wei Xu, Yongchao Su
Abstract
Solid-state NMR (ssNMR) spectroscopy analyzes a wide range of pharmaceutical materials in a non-disruptive and non-invasive manner. The obtained molecular properties at macroscopic and microscopic scales offer critical knowledge on the physiochemical stability of drug substances and drug products. ssNMR is well suited to characterize multicomponent solids, providing insight into the formulation process and composition, as well as investigating structural attributes for drug delivery. Compared to other solid-state analysis techniques, ssNMR offers unique and comprehensive perspectives for its inherently quantitative nature, high sensitivity to differentiate individual chemicals, the atomic resolution to elucidate local structures and intricate interactions, the capability to probe molecular packings of amorphous materials, and its ability to study molecular motions at different timescales. This review will introduce the advancement and application of ssNMR in pharmaceutical sciences to overcome challenges in material characterizations. We aim to include examples of molecular investigation on primary structural behaviors and physicochemical attributes of drug substances, excipients and solid dosages.