Application Note: Stearates verification using a handheld Raman analyzer

In this application, a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method was found to be successful in identifying the various stearates…

Magnesium stearate is a white powder that becomes solid at room temperature. In the pharmaceutical manufacturing process, magnesium stearate is the most commonly used lubricant for capsules and tablets, and is used to help prevent pharmaceutical ingredients from adhering to manufacturing equipment. Calcium stearate, and to a lesser extent, zinc stearate, are also used as pharmaceutical excipients in manufacturing, primarily for tablet and capsule lubrication.

Magnesium stearate, calcium stearate and zinc stearate share a similar chemical compound structure and are more challenging to verify during the incoming raw material inspection process. While the Thermo Scientific™ TruScan™ RM handheld Raman analyser has a built-in multivariate residual analysis decision engine to identify most materials, more complex materials analysis requires users to build custom, advanced methods.

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