Hydration, stability, and phase transformations of a new antitumor drug

We studied hydration equilibria and phase transformations in a cytotoxic drug (BBR3576). The original sample is a hydrated compound that undergoes a structural phase transition when it looses about half of its structural water. Such a structural transition is completely reversible: the partially dehydrated form is stable up to 1308C (or up to 1408C for several minutes) and reverts to the original form upon rehydration. Completely different phase relationships are observed if an original sample is fully dehydrated: when all water has been released, a metastable anhydrous phase forms, which undergoes an irreversible exothermic conversion to a stable phase. Upon rehydration at room temperature of such an anhydrous phase, a new hydrated form is obtained, which is definitely different from the original one.