Relative Humidity Hysteresis in Solid-State Chemical Reactivity: A Pharmaceutical Case Study

The chemical reaction rate for solid-state product formation in a pharmaceutical case study was monitored by equilibration with either a 75%, 21.5%, 75% relative humidity (RH) cycle ("high-low-high", HLH) or a 21.5%, 75%, 21.5% RH cycle ("low-high-low", LHL). For the HLH cycle, it was found that the degradant formation rate was reversible; that is, the rate at the final 75% RH step was equivalent to the rate at the initial 75% RH step. For samples equilibrated with the LHL cycle, a significantly higher rate of product formation was seen when the low RH condition was re-established than for the initial sample that had never been exposed to high RH. The observed hysteresis in degradant formation rate as a function of RH is not explained by hysteresis in the bulk moisture sorption isotherm, which is minimal in the case studied. It is suggested that high RH exposure impacts the solid-solid interface by either changing the amount of solid-solution present, by altering the mechanical properties of the material such that there is a greater mobility even when moisture is removed, or by altering the interfacial material to have a greater amount of moisture present even when dried.