The influence of sodium chloride (NaCl) as an additive on the anti-solvent crystallization of guanosine 5-monophosphate disodium (GMP-2Na) was investigated in continuous Couette-Taylor (CT) and batch mixing tank (MT) crystallizers. The anti-solvent crystallization initially precipitated amorphous solids of GMP-2Na, which then slowly transformed into hydrate crystals in the solution. However, the phase transformation of GMP-2Na was markedly promoted by the sodium chloride additive due to the common ion effect. While the normal phase transformation in the batch MT crystallizer required over 120 min of crystallization time without using the sodium chloride additive, the process was completed within 60 min when a small amount of the salt additive was added. The phase transformation was also significantly accelerated in the continuous CT crystallizer. Without using the sodium chloride additive, 7 min of the mean residence time was required for the production of 100% hydrate GMP crystals. However, when using the sodium chloride additive, a mean residence time of only 2 min was sufficient to completely transform the amorphous solids of GMP-2Na into hydrate crystals due to the common ion effect combined with the effective fluid motion of the Taylor vortex for the mass transfer. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.