Lab Assessed Flashcards
Explain why the concept of ‘intermolecular forces’ is relevant to pharmaceutical practice
Intermolecular forces are the forces which mediate interaction between molecules, including forces of attraction or repulsion
Important for understanding and achieving stable formulations that will act in a reproducible manner on the body
Describe repulsive forces
All molecules have an electron cloud. When such molecules are brought closer together (decreasing intermolecular distance), these like-charged cloud repel (repulsion)
Identify 3 common types of attractive forces and state whether or not they are stronger or weaker than covalent, ionic or metallic bonding
- Ion-dipole
- van der Waal’s (dipole-dipole and London dispersion)
- Hydrogen bonding
Intermolecular forces of attraction are weaker than intramolecular forces of attraction so they are weaker.
Explain the effect temperature and pressure exert on gas molecules
Increasing temperature increases the amount of energy in the system, causing the gaseous molecules to move at a greater speed.
Increasing pressure increases the number of molecular collisions on the walls of the container.
Identify and explain the two parameters that can be adjusted to cause the liquefaction of gas
Decreasing temperature decreases kinetic energy causing the gaseous molecules to move slower.
Increasing pressure results in the molecules becoming closer together.
By adjusting these two parameters in such a way, the attractive forces of the gas molecules can bring them together to condense into a liquid.
Explain the significance of critical temperature and critical pressure.
Critical temperature is the temperature above which the liquid state can no longer exist
Critical pressure is the pressure required to liquefy gas (assuming critical temperature)
Both critical temperature and critical pressure make up the critical point.
Define vapour pressure and discuss how different vapour pressures affect equilibrium
Vapour pressure is the pressure exerted by molecules that have evaporated.
When the actual vapour pressure (P) is below the equilibrium vapour pressure (Peq), the liquid will evaporate to shift towards equilibrium.
When P = Peq, there is an equal amount of evaporation and condensation (note: the system is not static)
When P > Peq, molecules in a gaseous state condense into a liquid state to decrease the vapour pressure to shift towards equilibrium.
Identify and define the two types of solids
Crystalline - solids that are structurally ordered forming a crystal lattice
Amorphous - solids without order
Compare and contrast crystalline and amorphous solids with reference to:
- Geometry
- Melting point
- Latent heat of fusion
- Directional properties
Geometry - crystalline solids have defined shape and symmetry
Melting Point - crystalline solids have defined melting points whereas amorphous solids tend to melt over a range of temperatures
Latent Heat of Fusion - Fixed for crystalline solids, not for amorphous solids
Directional Properties - crystalline solids are anisotropic, amorphous solids are isotropic
Explain the concept of ‘liquid crystals’
Liquid crystals are systems in which there is some degree of molecular order while maintaining an overall fluid state (e.g. lipid bilayer)
Explain the concept of ‘birefringence’ and state which types of substances are most likely to have it
Birefringence is an optical property in which a single ray of polarised light entering an anisotropic material is split into two rays, travelling at different speeds and different directions.
Crystalline substances have different concentrations of atoms along different axes (anisotropic) and can exhibit birefringence.
Identify and explain the state change that occurs when the temperature is changed and pressure is lower than the triple point
When temperature changes and pressure is lower than the triple point, sublimation occurs. Sublimination is the state change from solid to a gas without first changing to liquid
Explain the different components of the phase rule (F = C-P+2)
F = degrees of freedom: the number of variables that must be fixed to define a system.
C = number of components: a distinct chemical species in a system.
P = number of phases present: a physically distinct portion of a system separated by boundaries.
Explain the differences in degrees of freedom when finding a point vs. a line
When finding a point, we need two degrees of freedom. In other words, we need two variables to be fixed (pressure and temperature).
When finding a line, we need one degree of freedom. This means that we need one fixed variable (pressure OR temperature).
State the number of components and phases present in a solution of alcohol+water vs. ice+water
Alcohol+water = 2 components, 2 phases
Ice+water = 1 component, 2 phases
Describe the graph appearance of a two-component system containing liquid phases and a two-component system containing solid and liquid phases.
Two-component liquid phases: A parabolic curve that defines conditions whereby a single liquid phase or two-liquid phase exists. The closer the two liquids are to a 50:50 ratio, the greater the temperature needed to produce a single liquid (miscible) phase.
Two-component solid-liquid phase: separated into a solid phase and a liquid phase. In the liquid phase, a declining curve that intersects an increasing curve. The more disproportional the ratio of solids are, the greater the temperature needed to produce a single liquid phase.
Describe the ‘eutectic point’
The lowest temperature at which liquid can exist in a two-component system containing solid and liquid
Describe the appearance of a three-component diagram
Triangle with each corner designated to the 100% component of one substance and 0% component of another substance.
Define ‘supercritical fluids’
State generated when pressure and temperature exceed the critical point. The resulting product has liquid-like density and gas-like viscosity and diffusivity.
Define a polymorph
A compound that can crystallise in different forms
Define a solvate/hydrate
A compound formed by the interaction of a solvent and a solute.
Describe what is meant when a material is called ‘lyotropic’
A material is lyotropic when it forms liquid crystal phases upon the addition of a solvent.
Describe the difference between anisotropy and isotropy
Anisotropy - a difference in chemical property when measured along difference axes
Isotropy - the physical properties are identical in all directions
Assess the differences in properties between crystalline and amorphous substances
Crystalline:
- sharp melting point
- low solubility
- low dissolution rate
- low bioavailability
- high stability
Amorphous:
- broad melting point
- high solubility
- high dissolution rate
- high bioavailability
- low stability
Define ‘polymorphism’ and discuss the chemical and physical differences in polymorphs
Polymorphism - the ability of a solid compound to exist in more than one crystal lattice.
Polymorphs are chemically identical but have varying physical properties (solubility, melting point, dissolution rate, density, chemical and physical stability, hygroscopicity, etc.).
Describe what is meant by an ‘interface’ and explain the difference between a surface and an interface
An interface is a boundary between two immiscible phases.
A surface can only exist with phase boundaries involving gas (e.g. gas-solid, gas-liquid)
Explain the significance of interfaces on pharmaceutics
Formulation stability
Permeation process
Discuss the differences between cohesive forces and adhesive forces
Cohesive forces - forces of attraction between molecules of the same phase
Adhesive forces - forces of attraction between molecules of one phase with molecules of another phase.
Explain how surface tension is produced
Surface tension can be produced in vapour-liquid interfaces. This is because the surface liquid molecules have cohesive forces existing between other molecules either adjacent or below (bulk liquid molecules have cohesive forces in all directions). As a result, there is a net inward pulling force pulling towards the bulk, causing the liquid surface to contract, leading to surface tension.
Explain the Du Noüy Ring Method measures
The force necessary to detach a platinum-iridium ring immersed at the surface or interface is proportional to the surface or interfacial tension, respectively
Define ‘surfactant’
Surfactants are compounds that lower the surface tension between two liquids, a liquid-gas, or between liquid-solid by interacting with both phases of a system (possessing lipophilic and hydrophilic components)
Describe the orientation of surfactant molecules at a water-air surface
Polar heads facing the liquid phase and non-polar tails facing the vapour phase. Surfactant molecules at low concentrations can dissolve in water (due to polar component), however, at a certain concentration the molecules will ‘line up’ at the water-air surface and orient themselves in such way (i.e. saturation).
Describe ‘micelles’
Micelles are structures composed of surfactant molecules and are formed by increasing the surfactant concentration beyond the CMC point.
Micelles can hold oils in water and water in oils depending on the orientation of the surfactant molecules (lipophilic inside, hydrophilic outside or hydrophilic inside, lipophilic outside respectively).
Discuss changes in surface tension, surfactant activity and micelle formation when surfactant concentration is increased
- ) Surface tension remains constant - surfactant molecules present in the solution are relatively soluble and exist within the solution. Surfactant may line up at the surface, however, it is not enough to cause an effect on the surface tension.
- ) Surface tension decreases - once concentration of surfactant increases, water begins to interact more strongly with the lipophilic tails causing surfactant to line up at surface, surface tension begins decreasing to the CMC point.
- ) Surface tension plateaus - beyond the CMC point, an increase in surfactant concentration will see the formation of micelles as surface has been saturated.
Compare and contrast surfactants in water-air vs. in two immiscible liquids
In both water-air and liquid-liquid and at above a concentration, surfactant molecules will begin lining up at the surface to reduce surface tension. However, as micelles form in the water in a water-air system, in the liquid-liquid system micelles form in both. Furthermore, the micelles in each of the two liquids will be structured differently, one with hydrophilic heads on the outside and the other with lipophilic tails on the outside instead.
Discuss the applications of surfactants
Since many drugs are lipophilic, and oral liquids tend to be aqueous, surfactants allow drugs to reside in aqueous solutions.
Without surfactants, lipophilic drugs are prone to aggregating (clumping) and produce air pockets. Therefore, surfactants act as a coating over the drug which prevents the molecules from interacting (i.e. clumping).
What is HLB
HLB stands for ‘hydrophilic-lipophilic balance’ and is the measure of how hydrophilic or lipophilic a surfactant is
High HLB = high water solubility
Low HLB = high fat solubility
In the HLB equation…
rHLB = (HLB(a) x a) + (HLB(b) x b
…‘a’ and ‘b’ represent what?
a. ) amount of each surfactant
b. ) concentration of each surfactant
c. ) proportion of each surfactant
d. ) surfactant constant
c.) proportion of each surfactant (adding to 1)
Define a ‘tablet’
A compressed solid dosage form that contains drugs with or without excipients
State the advantages of tablets
- Precise dose
- Easy to use (everyone knows how to use it)
- Convenient to carry
- Large scale manufacturers (machines can mass produce tablets easily)
- Low cost of excipients
- Taste masking
- Complex designs possible
- High stability (solid - does not diffuse, evaporate, easier to store)
State the disadvantages of tablets
- Difficult to swallow (children, elderly, patients with conditions interfering with swallowing)
- Limited dose flexibility (1 tablet, half a tablet but can’t administer e.g. 1/5 a tablet)
- Difficult to compress some drugs (e.g. amorphous)
- Special packaging required (e.g. hygroscopic or oxygen sensitive drugs)
- Bioavailability issues (dissolution necessary)
Explain the process of tablet compression
- Drug powder is placed in a hopper which is connected to a feed tube
- Feed tube releases small amounts of powder to the die
- The upper punch will then compress the powder into a tablet