In drug manufacturing, solvent-based
methods are used for the crystallization
of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Often, the solvent interacts
with the API resulting in the formation of a new solid compound, the
solvate. When desolvation occurs upon heating, it might result in
the formation of new solid forms with significantly different physicochemical
properties. Therefore, in this work, we study the desolvation kinetics
by combining in situ powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), all-atom molecular
dynamics (MD) simulations, and macroscopic solid-state reaction kinetics
modeling. The fluorobenzene (FB) solvate of Bruton’s tyrosine
kinase inhibitor Ibrutinib (IBR) was used as a model system. While
the macroscopic solid-state modeling provides information about the
desolvation kinetics, the MD simulations were used to trace individual
FB molecules inside the crystal lattice. The activation energy of
confined solvent diffusion, obtained by MD simulations, agrees well
with results of the macroscopic solid-state reaction kinetics modeling.
In addition, MD simulations provided detailed information about the
IBR–FB interactions at the nanoscale. The mechanism revealed
is that the solvent molecules diffusion, controlled by distinct open-close
gating conformational changes of the drug, triggers the desolvation
throughout the crystal lattice.