Analysis of the Distribution of Energy Barriers in Amorphous Diazepam on the Basis of Computationally Supported NMR Relaxation Data

Crystalline and amorphous diazepam, a psychoactive drug, were investigated by employing spin-lattice relaxation H NMR along with atom-atom calculations of the landscape of energy barriers. The activation barriers for reorientation of the methyl group in amorphous diazepam were found to be in the range of 1.9-12.7 kJ/mol. Atom-atom calculations permitted determination of the distribution of energy barriers for reorientations of methyl groups, which was in a good agreement with that obtained on the basis of experimental data. The NMR relaxation combined with calculations provided a quantitative description of the distribution of energy barriers including intra- and inter-molecular interactions.