Investigation of the multi-step dehydration reaction of theophylline monohydrate using 2-dimensional powder X-ray diffractometry.

Purpose: (i) To study the dehydration kinetics of theophylline monohydrate using 2-dimensional (2D) powder X-ray diffractometry (XRD), and (ii) to investigate the effect of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) on the dehydration pathway and kinetics.

Methods: Theophylline monohydrate (C(7)H(8)N(4)O(2).H(2)O; M) was recrystallized from aqueous PVP solutions of different concentrations.

Quantification of crystallinity in substantially amorphous materials by synchrotron X-ray powder diffractometry.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to develop a highly sensitive powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique for quantification of crystallinity in substantially amorphous pharmaceuticals, utilizing synchrotron radiation and a 2-D area detector.

Methods: Diffraction data were acquired at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (France) using a 2-D charge-coupled device detector. The crystallization of amorphous sucrose was monitored in situ, isothermally at several temperatures in the range of 90 to 160 degrees C.

Water-DNA interactions as studied by X-ray and neutron fibre diffraction.

X-ray fibre-diffraction studies indicate a high degree of stereochemical specificity in interactions between water and the DNA double helix. Evidence for this comes from data that show that the molecular conformations assumed by DNA in fibres are highly reproducible and that the hydration-driven transitions between these conformations are fully reversible. These conformational transitions are induced by varying the relative humidity of the fibre environment and hence its water content.