Ionic Cocrystals of Etiracetam and Levetiracetam: The Importance of Chirality for Ionic Cocrystals

A striking variety of anhydrous and hydrated ionic cocrystals (ICCs) of the enantiopure antiepileptic drug (AED) levetiracetam and of its racemic intermediate etiracetam with the pharmaceutically acceptable salts CaCl₂ and MgCl₂ was synthesized and structurally characterized. The difference in the interaction of enantiopure and racemic compounds of interest with the inorganic salts was investigated. Variable-temperature X-ray powder diffraction (VT-XRPD) and calorimetric analyses (TGA and DSC) of all obtained ICCs showed a significant improvement in thermal stability with respect to pure racetams.