Methods for indexing solid forms of compounds

1. A method for determining the unit cell parameters of a crystalline solid form of a compound, which method comprises:

i. using a diffractometer to generate powder diffraction data for a solid crystalline substance; and

ii. determining the unit cell parameters of the substance by performing a Triads Algorithm to identify one or more sets of values of unit cell parameters of the crystalline solid form.

2. A method as in claim 1 , which further comprises performing one or more refinement steps.

3. A method as in claim 1 , wherein the powder diffraction data is processed by the following step after it is obtained and prior to the application of the Triads Algorithm:

a. generating a peak list from the powder diffraction data of the crystalline solid substance, wherein said peak list includes the following data obtained from the powder diffraction data:

i. 2θ[deg];

ii. sin(θ);

iii. κ[1/Å];

iv. κ 2 [1/Å 2 ] and/or

v. d/n [Å],

where κ=2 sin(θ)/λ and d/n=1/κ.

4. A method as in claim 3 , wherein the Triads Algorithm, comprising the following steps, is performed:

b. choosing three basis peaks from the peak list and labeling them A, B, and C;

c. using (001), (010), and (100), respectively, as Miller indices, to calculate the reciprocal cell length parameters (a*,b*,c*) from κ C , κ B , and κ A ;

d. determining acceptable ranges for the vector sums of pairs of C, B, and A using any of the following ranges:

κ B −κ C ≦κ B+C ≦κ B +κ C ,  i.

κ A −κ C ≦κ A+C ≦κ A +κ C , and  ii.

κ A −κ B ≦κ A+B ≦κ A +κ B ;  iii.

e. choosing three peaks from the ranges in (d) and labeling as B+C, A+C, and A+B;

f. using (011), (101), and (110), respectively, as Miller indices, to calculate the cosines of the reciprocal cell angle parameters of (α*,β*,γ*) from κ B+C , κ A+C , and κ A+B ;

g. calculating peak positions; and

h. determining whether the cell is consistent with the entire peak list.

5. A method as in claim 4 , wherein step (c) is performed after step (e) rather than after step (b).

6. A method as in claim 4 , comprising the further step of (i) refining the unit cell parameters.

7. A method as in claim 6 , further comprising one or more steps chosen from evaluating the trial unit cell, calculating the real space unit cell, calculating the reduced basis, calculating the conventional unit cell, and identifying the extinction symbol.

8. A method as in claim 6 , further comprising one or more of the following steps:

j. calculating the real space cell parameters;

k calculating the reduced basis parameters;

l. refining the reduced basis parameters;

m. identifying the character corresponding to the reduced basis;

n. calculating the conventional cell parameters;

o. refining the conventional cell parameters;

p. applying the extinction symbol;

q. evaluating the solution and recording if favorable; and

r post-processing the data.

9. A method as in claim 8 , wherein post-processing the data comprises comparing the data to data from a second crystal form to determine whether the two samples represent the same or different crystal forms.

10. A method as in claim 9 , comprising the steps of:

i. indexing powder diffraction data from two different samples; and

ii. comparing extinction symbols and/or numerical values for the unit cell parameters for each sample.

11. A method for determining the unit cell parameters of a crystalline solid form of a compound, which method comprises using an X-ray powder diffractometer to generate XRPD data for a solid crystalline substance; and

a. generating a peak list from the XRPD data of the crystalline solid substance;

b. choosing three basis peaks and labeling them A, B, and C;

c. using (001), (010), and (100), respectively, as Miller indices, to calculate the reciprocal cell length parameters (a*,b*,c*) from κ C , κ B , and κ A ;

d. determining acceptable ranges for the vector sums of pairs of C, B, and A using any of the following ranges:

κ B −κ C ≦κ B+C ≦κ B +κ C ,  i.

κ A −κ C ≦κ A+C ≦κ A +κ C , and  ii.

κ A −κ B ≦κ A+B ≦κ A +κ B ;  iii.

e. choosing three peaks from the ranges in (d) and labeling as B+C, A+C, and A+B;

f. using (011), (101), and (110), respectively, as Miller indices, to calculate the cosines of the reciprocal cell angle parameters of (α*,β*,γ*) from κ B+C , κ A+C , and κ A+B ;

g. calculating peak positions;

h. determining whether the cell is consistent with the entire peak list; and

i. refining the unit cell parameter.

12. A method as in claim 11 , further comprising one or more of the following steps:

l. calculating the real space cell parameters;

k. calculating the reduced basis parameters;

l. refining the reduced basis parameters;

m. identifying the character corresponding to the reduced basis;

n. calculating the conventional cell parameters;

o. refining the conventional cell parameters;

p. applying the extinction symbol;

q. evaluating the solution and recording if favorable; and

r. post-processing the data.

13. A method for distinguishing between crystalline solid forms of different samples of a substance, which comprises: for each sample, generating an X-ray powder diffraction pattern of a solid crystalline substance; determining the unit cell parameters of each substance by performing a Triads Algorithm to identify one or more sets of values of unit cell parameters of the crystalline solid forms, and comparing the one or more sets of values of unit cell parameters of the crystalline solid forms.

14. A method of sorting, screening, or ranking crystalline solid forms, which comprises: for each sample, generating an X-ray powder diffraction pattern of the solid crystalline form; determining the unit cell parameters of the substance by performing a Triads Algorithm to identify one or more sets of values of unit cell parameters of the crystalline solid form, and sorting, screening, or ranking the crystalline solid forms based on the unit cell parameters, character, and/or extinction symbol of each crystalline solid form.