Survival of the Fittest: Competitive Co-crystal Reactions in the Ball Mill.

The driving forces triggering the formation of co-crystals under milling conditions were investigated by using a set of multicomponent competitive milling reactions. In these reactions, different active pharmaceutical ingredients were ground together with a further compound acting as coformer. The study was based on new co-crystals including the coformer anthranilic acid. The results of the competitive milling reactions indicate that the formation of co-crystals driven by intermolecular recognition are influenced and inhibited by kinetic aspects including the formation of intermediates and the stability of the reactants.