How It's Made
Ibuprofen mainly consists of the following chemical formula:
C13H18O2
Ibuprofen is synthesized when a chemist binds together carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms by covalent bonds. The pills themselves are manufactured in a lab under sterile conditions. The exact process of making the pill depends on what kind of pill being made, i.e. soft gels, capsules, etc. A general look at how pills are made can be found by watching the video to the right.
The amount of the active ingredients is very little (oftenly less than a few hundreds of milligrams) and can't be held in the hand to be taken to the mouth. Therefore, a pill is necessary as a carrier for the active ingredients to get into the body. Other ingredients the manufacturer will generally add to a pill include:
FILLERS
Fillers are needed for the manufacturing process, but do nothing more for the pill itself than take up volume. The pill must be large enough for human fingers to readily handle. Even some small pills are quite a bit larger than the active ingredients they contain. Some common fillers are lactose (milk sugar), microcrystalline cellulose, corn starch, sugars, whey and yeast
BINDERS
Binders are used to make everything stick together into a nice pill shape. Some common binders are povidone, xanthan gum and Carbopol (an acrylic resin). Some fillers may also act as binding agents and are referred to as filler/binders.
DISINTEGRANTS
Disintegrants facilitate the break-up of the tablet in the stomach. Some commonly used disintegrants are crospovidone, croscarmellose sodium and gellan gum.
COATINGS
Coatings help to prevent the tablet from dissolving too soon, which would result in the pill breaking up in your mouth. They may also keep you from tasting or smelling the active ingredients. A common coating is shellac - the same as used on wood floors and boats!
MICRO-PILLS
Time-release capsules contain a variety of micro-pills that are designed to disintegrate in the stomach at different times. Each micro-pill has a little bit of active ingredient and fillers coated with a mixture of shellac and other compounds. The precise nature of the chemicals used in the coating controls the time the micro-pill takes to dissolve in the stomach.
LUBRICANTS, DYES, FLAVORS, PLASTIZICERS
Other ingredients, such as lubricants, colorants, flavors (in chewable tablets) and plasticizers, may also be used. Lubricants include magnesium stearate, stearic acid, sodium stearyl fumarate and hydrogenated vegetable oil. Lubricants help the tablet mass to compress more readily without sticking to the wall of the mold. The molds may also be sprayed with a releasing agent such as polyethylene glycol, which is another form of wax or grease to allow the pill to drop out of the mold. A variety of colorants may be used depending on the color of the tablet. Colorants or pigments include titanium dioxide (white) and iron oxides (red or yellow). Plasticizers are used to improve the flexibility of coatings so that they don't crack or chip. (You've probably noticed how small amounts of material will rub or chip off uncoated tablets, simply through handling of the pill bottle.)
