What is allotropism and polymosphism. What is the similarity and how do they differ. What is its commercial importance
What is allotropism and polymosphism. What is the similarity and how do they differ. What is its commercial importance
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COMMERCIAL RELEVANCE OF
ALLOTROPISM AND POLYMORPHISM
Allotropism is the property of some chemical elements to exist in multiple solid forms in the same physical state (Solid phase). It can also be interpreted as the different structural modifications of the same element. For example, carbon has several allotropes and they include diamond (cubic crystal structure), graphite (hexagonal crystal structure), buckminster fullerenes, nanotubes, graphene, graphyne. Interestingly different forms of the same element have different physical properties. They differ in their electrical and thermal conductivity, hardness, solubility and melting point but they all have the same chemical property. Therefore, identifying a new allotrope of an element is of paramount importance because they find applications in material science and electronic industries as well as bring revenue through intellectual property rights. For instance, Q-carbon (quenched carbon) a newly discovered allotrope of carbon is the hardest and is ferromagnetic, conducts electricity and glows when exposed to low levels of energy. It has applications in various industries like manufacturing artificial diamonds, medical fields, preparing stable electronic gadgets etc. Q-carbon was developed artificially in the laboratory through carefully designed experiments and hence has relatively low production cost compared to other carbon forms. Therefore, the future opportunities created by the new allotrope of carbon can be revolutionary from its application perspective. In addition, there are carbon nano cones, carbon nano buds and lonsdaleite carbon forms as well. All the above-mentioned allotropes of carbon are all crystalline and have long range order. On the other hand, there are carbon forms that have short range order and amorphous, they comprise coke charcoal, lampblack etc..A complete list or chart on carbon allotropes can be obtained from the internet. There are other elements that exhibit allotropism. More than 30 allotropes of sulfur exists and the most common are rhombic and monoclinic Sulphur.
If allotropism exists at elemental level there is another remarkable phenomenon that exist when molecules come together to form crystalline solids, this is known as polymorphism. Polymorphs have same molecular formulae but different crystal structures and different physicochemical properties. Even though this interesting property was known long ago but was reported from a scientific perspective by Elhard Mischerlich in the year 1821 during his study of crystalline solids calcite and argonite which had the same composition CaCO3. Polymorphism has applications in pharmaceutical industry. Majority of the drugs are marketed as crystalline solids because they are more stable and ease of processing. During the process of manufacturing the drug material undergoes various reaction conditions and that can generate new polymorphs of the drug molecule because polymorphs are sensitive to temperature, different solvents, reaction conditions like stirring, grinding etc. These reaction conditions can trigger the conversion of one polymorph to the other. Since different polymorphs have different physicochemical properties like solubility, bioavailability and dissolution, preparing the right polymorph of the crystalline drug material with the optimal physical properties is of critical importance during bulk drug manufacturing. There are two important case studies in pharma industry where the phenomena of polymorphism came to limelight. One of them is the case of the block buster anti-ulcer drug ranitidine hydrochloride (Zantac). There was a legal battle regarding the ownership of different polymorphs, between the inventors (Glaxo) and generic companies, exhibited by ranitidine hydrochloride. Ever since then, pharma companies are cautious about the importance of polymorphism to their activities. The second important case is that of anti-HIV drug Ritonavir marketed by Abbott Labratories. The company noticed that some of the marketed Ritonavir did not have the anticipated performance (poor solubility) and they had to recall many of the drug materials from the market. After careful examination they understood that there was a polymorphic interconversion while in the market ie the polymorph with the optimal properties got converted into an other polymorph which did not have the right solubility and dissolution properties. There are several other case studies that are beyond the scope of this short article and will be published somewhere else.
The study of allotropism and polymorphism is of vital importance to electronic and pharmaceutical industries. They bring intellectual property rights and revenue while if not taken adequate precaution can also lead to great financial losses as well.
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