Drug–drug cocrystals are formulated to produce combined medication, not just to modulate active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) properties. Nano-crystals adjust the pharmacokinetic properties and enhance the dissolution of APIs. Nano-cocrystals seem to enhance API properties by combining the benefits of both technologies. Despite the promising opportunities of nano-sized cocrystals, the research at the interface of nano-technology and cocrystals has, however, been described to be in its infancy. In this study, high-pressure homogenization (HPH) and high-power ultrasound were used to prepare nano-sized cocrystals of 4-aminosalysilic acid and sulfamethazine in order to establish differences between the two methods in terms of cocrystal size, morphology, polymorphic form, and dissolution rate enhancement. It was found that both methods resulted in the formation of form I cocrystals with a high degree of crystallinity. HPH yielded nano-sized cocrystals, while those prepared by high-power ultrasound were in the micro-size range. Furthermore, HPH produced smaller-size cocrystals with a narrow size distribution when a higher pressure was used. Cocrystals appeared to be needle-like when prepared by HPH compared to those prepared by high-power ultrasound, which had a different morphology. The highest dissolution enhancement was observed in cocrystals prepared by HPH; however, both micro- and nano-sized cocrystals enhanced the dissolution of sulfamethazine.

(7-Hydroxy-2-oxo-2H-chromen-4-yl)-acetic acid methyl ester(1) upon reaction with ethyl bromoacetate furnishes (7-ethoxycarbonylmethoxy-2-oxo-2H-chromen-4-yl)-acetic acid methylester (2), which on treatment with 100% hydrazine hydrate yields (7-hydrazinocarbonylmethoxy-2-oxo-2H-chromen-4-yl)-acetic acid hydrazide (3). The condensation of compound 3 with different aromatic aldehydes afforded a series of [7-(arylidenehydrazinocarbonylmethoxy)-2-oxo-2H-chromen-4-yl]-acetic acid arylidene-hydrazide Schiff’s bases 4a-k. Cyclo-condensation of compounds 4a-k with 2-mercapto-acetic acid in N,N-dimethylformamide in the presence of anhydrous ZnCl₂ affordsN-(2-aryl-4-oxothiazolidin-3-yl)-2-(4-(2-aryl-4-oxothiazolidin-3-ylcarbamoyl)-methyl)-2-oxo-2H-chromen-7-yloxy)-acetamides 5a-k. Structure elucidation of the products has been accomplished on the basis of elemental analysis, IR, ¹H-NMR and ¹³C-NMR data. Compounds 4a-k and 5a-k will be screened for their antibacterial activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and the results reported elsewhere in due course.

The century-old, well-known odd–even effect phenomenon is still a very attractive and intriguing topic in supramolecular and nano-scale organic chemistry. As a part of our continuous efforts in the study of supramolecular chemistry, we have prepared three novel aromatic alcohols (1,2-bis[2-(hydroxymethyl)phenoxy]butylene (Do4OH), 1,2-bis[2-(hydroxymethyl)phenoxy]pentylene (Do5OH) and 1,2-bis[2-(hydroxymethyl)phenoxy]hexylene (Do6OH)) and determined their crystal and molecular structures by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. In all compounds, two benzyl alcohol groups are linked by an aliphatic chain of different lengths (CH₂)_n; n = 4, 5 and 6. The major differences in the molecular structures were found in the overall planarity of the molecules and the conformation of the aliphatic chain. Molecules with an even number of CH₂ groups tend to be planar with an all-trans conformation of the aliphatic chain, while the odd-numbered molecule is non-planar, with partial gauche conformation. A direct consequence of these structural differences is visible in the melting points—odd-numbered compounds of a particular series display systematically lower melting points. Crystal and molecular structures were additionally studied by the theoretical calculations and the melting points were correlated with packing density and the number of CH₂ groups. The results have shown that the generally accepted rule, higher density = higher stability = higher melting point, could not be applied to these compounds. It was found that the denser packaging causes an increase in the percentage of repulsive H‧‧‧H interactions, thereby reducing the stability of the crystal, and consequently, the melting points. Another interesting consequence of different molecular structures is their electrochemical and antioxidative properties—a non-planar structure displays the highest oxidation peak of hydroxyl groups and moderate antioxidant activity.