Hydrolysis of tetrakis-mu-acetylsalicylato-dicopper(II).

Hydrolysis rates of acetylsalicylate in the free acid and anion forms and in the dilute solution of the copper complex, tetrakis-mu-acetylsalicylato-dicopper(II), were compared. The hydrolysis rate was unaffected by the presence of copper(II). The pH-dependent rate was 3.64 x 10(-4) mmole/liter/min per pH unit at 37 degrees in Ringer's solution. The synthetic procedures commonly used for the preparation of this compound yield a product contaminated with salicylate. This contamination is avoided by synthesis of the compound in methanol, which yields a complex containing no measurable salicylate.