Polymorphism of 6-methyluracil, which affects the regulation
of
lipid peroxidation and wound healing, has been studied by experimental
and quantum chemical methods. Two known polymorphic modifications
and two new crystalline forms were crystallized and characterized
by single crystal and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods as well
as by the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) method and infrared
(IR) spectroscopy. The calculations of pairwise interaction energies
between molecules and lattice energies in periodic boundary conditions
have shown that the polymorphic form 6MU_I used in the
pharmaceutical industry and two new forms 6MU_III and 6MU_IV, which can be formed due to temperature violations,
may be considered as metastable. The centrosymmetric dimer bound by
two N–H···O hydrogen bonds was recognized as
a dimeric building unit in all of the polymorphic forms of 6-methyluracil.
Four polymorphic forms have a layered structure from the viewpoint
of interaction energies between dimeric building units. The layers
parallel to the (100) crystallographic plane were recognized as a
basic structural motif in the 6MU_I, 6MU_III, and 6MU_IV crystals. In the 6MU_II structure,
a basic structural motif is a layer parallel to the (001) crystallographic
plane. The ratio between the interaction energies within the basic
structural motif and between neighboring layers correlates with the
relative stability of the studied polymorphic forms. The most stable
polymorphic form 6MU_II has the most anisotropic “energetic”
structure, while the interaction energies in the least stable form 6MU_IV are very close in various directions. The modeling
of shear deformations of layers in the metastable polymorphic structures
has not revealed any possibility of these crystals to be deformed
under external mechanical stress or pressure influence. These results
allow the use of metastable polymorphic forms of 6-methyluracil in
the pharmaceutical industry without any limitations.