Effect of moisture content on solid-state interaction at the interface between magnesium stearate and captopril

A grinding process was used to accelerate the solid-state interaction at the interface between magnesium stearate (MgSt) and captopril (CAP) in the presence or absence of water. The 110 °C-preheated MgSt/CAP or MgSt/CAP ground mixture showed a 5.06% (w/w) or 6.07% (w/w) water content, respectively, which was >4.29% (w/w) for the original MgSt alone. The increased water content in each ground mixture was due to the atmospheric absorption of water caused by grinding. A small infrared (IR) peak at 1562 cm−1 appeared in the IR spectrum of the 110 °C-preheated MgSt/CAP ground mixture, whereas a stronger IR peak at 1541 cm−1 with a shoulder at 1556 cm−1 was observed for the MgSt/CAP ground mixture. These IR peaks were possibly related to the solid-state interaction at the interface between MgSt and CAP via hydrogen bonding of adsorbed water. However, an excess of water added in the MgSt/CAP ground mixture could exacerbate the solid-state interaction of MgSt and CAP to form a stearic acid as evidenced by the IR peak at 1705 cm−1. This may be due to the neutralization between basic MgSt and acidic CAP. In addition, thermal Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microspectroscopy also confirmed that the thermal-dependent dehydration process might alter the IR peak intensity of MgSt/CAP ground mixtures.