Computational study of metformin hydrochloride nucleation in hydroxylic solvents: Experimental kinetics and DFT...

Metformin hydrochloride (MET-HCl) was applied as a model compound to investigate the nucleation behavior in four hydroxylic solvents based on the experimental and simulated methods. Over 320 induction time experiments were measured in four solvents, and the induction time increased in the order: water < methanol < ethanol < n-propanol. The metastable zone widths were determined with different cooling rates and saturation temperatures. According to classical nucleation theory, the nucleation kinetics and thermodynamic parameters (interfacial energy, critical nucleus size and Gibbs free energy) were estimated. The result indicates that the nucleation rate of MET-HCl in water was highest among four solvents. The density functional theory (DFT) calculation was applied to reveal the solvent-solute interaction in crystal nucleation, showing the binding energies increased in the order: water < methanol < ethanol < n-propanol. The simulation results combined with experimental data suggested that the stronger the interactions of solvent-solute molecules, the more difficult the nucleation becomes.