Polymorphism vs. Aromaticity in Cathinone Derivative 2-Amino-1-(4-Bromo-2,5-Dimethoxyphenyl)Ethan-1-One (bk-2C-B)

Abstract

Cathinone and its synthetic derivatives are one of the most commonly used narcotics in the world. Some studies describe their antidepressant and smoking cessation potential, as well as cytostatic activity on several cancer cell lines. The literature presents a limited amount of data on the polymorphism in cathinones crystals, as well as on the correlation between aromaticity and crystal stability. This work aims to analyze the effect of the crystal structure on the nucleus-independent chemical shift (NICS) and the harmonic oscillator model of aromaticity (HOMA) values of bk-2C-B cathinone derivative polymorphs—EBIJOR and EBIJUX. A comparative analysis of NICS and HOMA values with an isolated drug molecules is also performed in this study. A higher aromaticity of molecules in polymorph EBIJOR was observed, compared to in EBIJUX. This may indicate a higher stability of EBIJOR compared to EBIJUX.