Controlled formation of carbamazepine-saccharine cocrystals by solvent/antisolvent demixing membrane crystallization

Cocrystallization of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) with cocrystal formers is gaining increasing interest in the drug-development area, since the resulting new crystal forms have different physicochemical properties compared to the original API . Despite of its potentialities, cocrystallization is by now mainly considered an empirical technique based on "trial and error" strategies; on the other side the co-crystallization process requires a fine control in order to achieve the desired product with the required purity. Such situation demands for the development of new and more efficient production technologies. In the last years, membrane crystallization technique has been recognized as a powerful means for producing pharmaceutical crystals in controlled manner. The interest in membrane technology rises from the necessity of controlling the course of the crystallization process particularly in the supersaturation stage. Here, the application of membrane crystallization, in antisolvent configuration, for cocrystallization processes is investigated, while performing a systematic study about the conditions promoting CBZ-SAC cocrystals or single components crystals from water/ethanol solvent mixtures.