Applications of Eutectic Mixtures in Pharmaceutical Industry

Harsh Chauhan. 2013. Pharmaceutical Applications of Eutectic Mixtures.

During pre formulation stage, compatibility studies between APIs and excipient play a crucial role
in excipient selection. Testing for eutectic mixture formation can help in anticipation of probable
physical incompatibility between drug and excipient molecules. Eutectic mixtures are commonly
used in drug designing and delivery processes for various routes of administration. (Table 1) lists
few examples of eutectic mixtures and their application. During manufacturing of pharmaceutical
dosage form, it is extremely necessary to anticipate the formation of eutectics and avoid
manufacturing problems if any. For example, during tablet compaction the heat produced in the
punch and die cavities may lead to fusion or melting of tablet powder compacts leading to
manufacturing defects. Thus knowledge of eutectic points of powder components may help avoid
these problems. During pharmaceutical analysis, understanding of eutectic mixtures can help in
the identification of compounds having similar melting points. Compounds having similar melting
points, as a rule will have different eutectic point with a common other component [4]. This
knowledge could be used to identify compounds like Ergotamine, Allobarbital etc. (Table 2). The
listed drugs can be distinguished by their tendency to form eutectic mixtures with Benzanilide.
Pharmaceutical Applications of Eutectic Mixtures
Department of Pharmacy Sciences, Creighton University, USAUrvi Gala, Department of Pharmacy
Sciences, Creighton University, USAHoang Pham and Department of Pharmacy Sciences,
Creighton University, USAHarsh Chauhan*
Corresponding
Author :

Harsh
Department
of
Pharmacy
School
of
Pharmacy
and
Health
Creighton
University,
E-mail: HarshChauhan@creighton.edu

Chauhan
Sciences
Professions
USA

Received August 29, 2013; Accepted August 29, 2013; Published September 04, 2013
Citation: Gala U, Pham H, Chauhan H (2013) Pharmaceutical Applications of Eutectic Mixtures. J
Develop Drugs 2:e130. doi: 10.4172/2329-6631.1000e130

Abstract
Send to:
Indian J Pediatr. 1999 Sep-Oct;66(5):707-15.

Use of eutectic mixture of local anesthetics in children.

Dutta S1
.

Author information
Dutta S.
Abstract
The Eutectic Mixture of Local Anesthetics (EMLA) is a topical application, which has proved to be a useful
medication for providing pain relief among children. It is an emulsion containing a 1:1 mixture of lidocaine
and prilocaine. The high concentration of the uncharged anesthetic base in the microdroplets of the
emulsion ensure effective skin penetration. In the pediatric population EMLA has been shown to be
efficacious when it is used prior to venipuncture, cannulation, lumbar puncture, laser treatment of port

wine stains, curettage of molluscum contagiosum or vaccination. For several of these indications, the
efficacy has been documented by double blind controlled trials, that have used objective and quasiobjective scales for assessing pain relief. The dose of EMLA is between 0.5 to 1 gram, and the cream
should be applied half to one hour prior to the procedure. Local side effects are very mild, and the only
systemic side effect of importance is the risk of methemoglobinemia in young infants. The literature has
conflicting reports about the safety of EMLA in neonates.
PMID:

10798132

[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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Eutectic mixtures for pharmaceutical applications: A thermodynamic and kinetic

study Narcfs Clavaguera a'*, Joan Saurina b, Jean Lheritier c, Jacqueline Masse c,
Alain Chauvet c, Maria Teresa Clavaguera-Mora d a Grup de F{sica de l'Estat Sblid,
Departament d'Estructura i Constituents de la Mat~ria, Facultat de Ffsica,
Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, 08028, Spain b Departament de F(sica,
Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain c Laboratoire de Chimie Gn~rale et Min~rale,
Facult~ de Pharmacie, Universit~ de Montpellier I, Montpellier, France d Grup de
F{sica de Materials L Departament de Ffsica, Universitat Autbnoma de Barcelona,
Bellaterra 08193, Spain Received 25 May 1996; revised 3 July 1996; accepted 12
July 1996 Abstract The thermodynamics and kinetics of the solidification process of
several mixtures of SR 33557 and PEG 6000 have been analyzed by differential
scanning calorimetry. The calculated phase diagram showed a negative interaction
energy between the constituents in the liquid phase. A unified description for
solidification accounting for isothermal and continuous cooling is presented. The
onset of solidification shifts to higher temperatures on decreasing the cooling rate
and to longer times on decreasing the annealing temperature under continuous
cooling and isothermal holding, respectively. The analysis is based on the fact that
nuclei have to be created prior to any crystal growth. The driving force for
nucleation is considered proportional to the undercooling, AT(= TL -- T). By coupling
the isothermal and continuous cooling experiments, the high temperature part of
the time-temperature transformation and temperature-cooling rate transformation
diagrams are constructed under a wide range of conditions. 1997 Elsevier

Science B.V. Keywords: Activation energy; Nucleation; PEG-mixtures; Polyethylene

glycol; Temperature-cooling rate transformation curves; Time-temperature
transformation curves 1. Introduction 114432-13-2) was developed by SANOF1Recherche [2,3] with a general formula C31H38N2OsSI density The knowledge of
the phase diagram of a drug and 1.15 g cm 3 and melting point 89.1 i0.5C. The an
excipient is of major interest in pharmaceutical formula, density and melting point
of PEG 6000 technology. In particular, the phase diagram of SR are
HOCH2(CH2OCH2)nCH2OH, 1.07 g cm -3 and 33557 and polyethylene glycol with
mean molecular 62.7+0.7C, respectively [4]. The binary system has weight
between 5400 and 6000 (PEG 6000) has been an eutectic point of composition 80
wt% PEG 6000 previously reported [1]. The drug SR 33557 (CAS and an eutectic
temperature of TE=594-0.5C. The aim of the present work is to study the
thermody- *Corresponding author. Tel.: 343 402 1182; fax: 343 402 1198; namics
and kinetics of the solidification process of e-mail: narcis@ecm.ub.es, the binary
system of PEG 6000 an