Chiral drugtimolol maleate as a continuous solid solution: Thermochemical and single crystal X-ray evidence

Abstract

Thermochemical properties of binary mixtures of the popular chiral drug timolol maleate (TM) were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry. It was found that there are no eutectic points on the melting phase diagram, and the enantiomeric components form a continual set of solid solutions over a wide concentration range. The crystal structure of heterochiral racemic TM is essentially isostructural with that of the homochiral (S)-TM, having close cell parameters but containing a crystallographic inversion centre. The crystal structure of the homochiral TM contains two symmetry independent molecules in the unit cell. These molecules have different conformations but are approximate mirror images of each other in the crystal lattice. Within the homochiral crystals only one site of two changes its nature in the heterochiral crystals. The solid solution of TM could be treated as the solid solution of a regular racemic compound and a pure enantiomer.