Design of Agglomerated Crystals of Ibuprofen During Crystallization: Influence

Objective(s) Ibuprofen is a problematic drug in tableting, and dissolution due to its poor solubility, hydrophobicity, and tendency to stick to surface. Because of the bad compaction behavior ibuprofen has to be granulated usually before tableting. However, it would be more satisfactory to obtain directly during the crystallization step crystalline particles that can be directly compressed and quickly dissolved. Materials and Methods Crystallization of ibuprofen was carried out using the quasi emulsion solvent diffusion method in presence of surfactant (sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), Tween 80). The particles were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), powder X-ray diffraction (XRPD) and were evaluated for particle size, flowability, drug release and tableting behavior. Results Ibuprofen particles obtained in the presence of surfactants consisted of numerous plate- shaped crystals which had agglomerated together as near spherical shape. The obtained agglomerates exhibited significantly improved micromeritic properties as well as tableting behavior than untreated drug crystals. Th