In this work, for
the first time, we present the X-ray diffraction
crystal structure and spectral properties of a new, room-temperature
polymorph of teriflunomide (TFM), CSD code 1969989. As revealed
by DSC, the low-temperature TFM polymorph recently reported by Gunnam
et al. undergoes a reversible thermal transition at −40 °C.
This reversible process is related to a change in
Z’
value, from 2 to 1, as observed by variable-temperature
1
H–
13
C cross-polarization (CP) magic-angle spinning
(MAS) solid-state NMR, while the crystallographic system is preserved
(triclinic). Two-dimensional
13
C–
1
H and
1
H–
1
H double-quantum MAS NMR spectra are
consistent with the new room-temperature structure, including comparison
with GIPAW (gauge-including projector augmented waves) calculated
NMR chemical shifts. A crystal structure prediction procedure found
both experimental teriflunomide polymorphs in the energetic global
minimum region. Differences between the polymorphs are seen for the
torsional angle describing the orientation of the phenyl ring relative
to the planarity of the TFM molecule. In the low-temperature structure,
there are two torsion angles of 4.5 and 31.9° for the two
Z’
= 2 molecules, while in the room-temperature structure,
there is disorder that is modeled with ∼50% occupancy between
torsion angles of −7.8 and 28.6°. These observations are
consistent with a broad energy minimum as revealed by DFT calculations.
PISEMA solid-state NMR experiments show a reduction in the C–H
dipolar coupling in comparison to the static limit for the aromatic
CH moieties of 75% and 51% at 20 and 40 °C, respectively, that
is indicative of ring flips at the higher temperature. Our study shows
the power of combining experiments, namely DSC, X-ray diffraction,
and MAS NMR, with DFT calculations and CSP to probe and understand
the solid-state landscape, and in particular the role of dynamics,
for pharmaceutical molecules.