Benznidazole,
the primary drug used in Chagas’ disease treatment,
has known side effects, which may limit its widespread use. Its low
solubility could negatively interfere in the bioavailability, even
accentuating the toxic effects. Cocrystals have been extensively used
to modify and optimize physicochemical properties, but, as single-component
raw materials, they are susceptible to the phenomenon of polymorphism.
In this work, we report a trimorphic cocrystal containing a 1:1 ratio
of benznidazole and salicylic acid. The crystalline structures of
three polymorphs were elucidated by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.
Moreover, several isostructural solvates were also synthesized and
analyzed. The same carboxylic acid-imidazole supramolecular heterosynthon
is present in the four forms, but the main structural feature is an
extended column based on amide–amide hydrogen bonds. On the
basis of the crystalline structures, the trimorphic system was classified
as conformational and packing polymorphism. Furthermore, the dissolution
profiles of the stable forms were determined and showed a significant
solubility improvement over the raw material.