Decomposition of aspirin in the solid state in the presence of limited amounts of moisture II: Kinetics and salting-in of aspirin in aqueous acetic acid solutions.

The solubility of aspirin in saturated solutions of salicylic acid (and vice versa) was studied in 0 to 16 M aqueous solutions of acetic acid. The solubilities, when expressed in molarity, go through a maximum at an acetic acid concentration of approximately 12 M. The temperature dependence of the solubilities is such that the logarithm of the solubility is linear in reciprocal absolute temperature. The calculated enthalpies are of the order of 11 kcal/mol. The kinetics of aspirin decomposition was also studied at the different acetic acid concentrations, and it was found that the second-order hydrolysis rate constant is fairly independent of acetic acid concentration. Aspirin decomposition follows an Arrhenius equation and has an activation energy of 18 kcal/mol.