Sibutramine hydrochloride monohydrate

In the present work, the thermal decomposition of sibutramine hydrochloride monohydrate (SBT) (an appetite suppressant agent) was studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetry/derivative thermogravimetry (TG/DTG). Solid-state characterization was carried out by diffuse reflectance infrared fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFT), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD). Isothermal and non-isothermal methods were employed to determine the kinetic data of decomposition process. From isothermal experiments, activation energy (Ea) can be obtained from slope of ln t versus 1/T, and the value obtained was 96.06 and 101.43 kJ mol(-1) in N(2) and air atmospheres, respectively. For non-isothermal method Ea can be obtained from plot of logarithms of heating rates, as a function of inverse of temperature, resulting in a value of 96.56 and 98.22 kJ mol(-1) in N(2) and air atmospheres, respectively. The compatibilities of several commonly used pharmaceutical excipients (microcrystalline cellulose, magnesium stearate, colloidal silicon dioxide, lactose monohydrate) and empty hard-gelatin capsules with SBT were evaluated using DSC. The 1:1 physical mixtures of these excipients with SBT showed physical interaction of the drug with magnesium stearate. On the other hand, DRIFT results did not evidence any chemical modifications.