Effect of diffusion layer pH and solubility on the dissolution rate of pharmaceutical acids and their sodium salts. II: Salicylic acid, theophylline, and benzoic acid.

The pH-solubility profiles of salicylic acid and theophylline, as determined by the addition of HCl or NaOH to their aqueous suspensions, were identical with those of their sodium salts except during phase transitions from acid to salt or vice versa. Supersaturated solutions were formed during phase transitions. Unlike the solubility profiles, the pH-intrinsic dissolution rate profiles of an acid and its salt differed greatly. Good conformity with the Noyes-Whitney equation was demonstrated when the solubility values under pH conditions as the diffusion layer thickness, h, approaches zero (Cs,h = 0) were used rather than solubilities under pH conditions of the bulk media (Cs). The pH when h approaches zero (pHh = 0) was estimated by equilibration of a dissolution medium with an excess of material. Good correlation was shown between the pHh = 0 values of benzoic acid estimated according to this method and the pHh = 0 values reported in the literature. The intrinsic dissolution rate constant, the ratio of the diffusion coefficient to the diffusion layer thickness (D/h), may be assumed constant when comparing the dissolution rates of salicylic acid, theophylline and sodium theophylline. On the other hand, D/h decreased significantly during dissolution of sodium salicylate due to a large increase in Cs,h = 0 and the consequent increase in viscosity in the diffusion layer. A simple method of predicting the dissolution rate of an acid or a salt at different pH values has been developed.