The crystal structure of cefprozil monohydrate has been solved and refined using synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction data and optimized using density functional techniques. Cefprozil monohydrate crystallizes in space group P21 (#4) with a = 11.26513(6), b = 11.34004(5), c = 14.72649(11) Å, β = 90.1250(4)°, V = 1881.262(15) Å3, and Z = 4. Although a reasonable fit was obtained using an orthorhombic model, closer examination showed that many peaks were split and/or had shoulders, and thus the true symmetry was monoclinic. DFT calculations revealed that one carboxylic acid proton moved to an amino group. The structure thus contains one ion pair and one pair of neutral molecules. This protonation was confirmed by infrared spectroscopy. There is an extensive array of hydrogen bonds resulting in a three-dimensional network. The powder pattern has been submitted to ICDD® for inclusion in the Powder Diffraction File™.
