The crystal morphology of amino acids can be altered in a controlled manner through inclusion of tailor-made additives in their structure, in order to widen their scope for applications in drug design and targeted delivery. In this study, the effect of multi-additive combinations of hydrophobic and hydrophilic amino acids on the growth and morphology of l-alanine was investigated. Theoretical calculations were performed using two crystal growth models in Materials Studio software: (1) build-in model; (2) surface docking model. Crystallization experiments were carried out using the metal-assisted and microwave accelerated evaporative crystallization (MA-MAEC) technique with multiple hydrophobic and hydrophilic amino acids added in stoichiometric amounts to l-alanine solution. The crystal morphology was established and compared with predicted crystal morphology. The use of hydrophilic and hydrophobic additives was predicted to have significant changes in the morphology of l-alanine crystals. Multi-additive combinations with hydrophobic amino acids resulted in elongation of l-alanine crystals through the (120) face. Experimental data corroborates with the theoretical predictions in relation to the morphological changes due to additives, indicating the accuracy of theoretical models in predicting the impact of additives in crystal growth.<br/>

Effect of additives on the crystal morphology of amino acids: A theoretical and experimental study

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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