Molar enthalpies Of Sublimation of two crystal forms of caffeine were obtained from the temperature dependence of the vapour pressure measured by the transpiration method. A large number of primary experimental results on the temperature dependences of vapour pressure and phase transitions have been collected from the literature and have been treated in a uniform manner in order to derive sublimation enthalpies of caffeine at T = 298.15 K. This collection together with the new experimental results reported here has helped to resolve contradictions in the available sublimation enthalpies data and to recommend a consistent and reliable set of sublimation and formation enthalpies for both crystal forms under study. Ab initio calculations of the gaseous molar enthalpy of formation of caffeine have been performed using the G3MP2 method and the results are in excellent agreement with the selected experimental data. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.