DSC, X-ray and FTIR studies of a gemfibrozil/dimethyl-β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex produced by co-grinding

The steps of formation of an inclusion complex produced by the co-grinding of gemfibrozil and dimethyl-beta-cyclodextrin were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray powder diffractometry (XRPD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy with curve-fitting analysis. The endothermic peak at 59.25 degrees C reflecting the melting of gemfibrozil progressively disappeared from the DSC curves of the products on increase of the duration of co-grinding. The crystallinity of the samples too gradually decreased, and after 35 min of co-grinding the product was totally amorphous. Up to this co-grinding time. XRPD and FTIR investigations indicated a linear correlation between the cyclodextrin complexation and the co-grinding time. After co-grinding for 30 min, the ratio of complex formation did not increase. These studies demonstrated that co-grinding is a suitable method for the complexation of gemfibrozil with dimethyl-beta-cyclodextrin. XRPD analysis revealed the amorphous state of the gemfibrozil-dimethyl-beta-cyclodextrin product. FTIR spectroscopy with curve-fitting analysis may be useful as a semiquantitative analytical method for discriminating the molecular and amorphous states of gemfibrozil. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.