Scientific poster: How to Automate Water Content Determination in Pharmaceuticals

The water content of pharmaceuticals strongly influences their quality, shelf-life, and stability as well as the release of the active substances. The determination of water content is, therefore, vital in pharmaceutical analysis.

This poster describes the water determination in pharmaceuticals using the Karl Fischer oven technique.

Substances that release water slowly, at high temperatures, or exhibit low solubility in alcohols are not suitable for a direct Karl Fischer titration. In these cases the KF oven method can be employed to overcome challenges associated with traditional methods involving the use of toxic solvents, extensive sample preparation procedures, or the release of impurities when using a drying cabinet or desiccator. With the automated KF oven method, the substance under investigation is heated in a tube oven and the released water is transferred by a carrier gas to the titration cell where it is then determined by Karl Fischer titration. Only the water enters the KF cell, and the sample itself does not come into contact with the KF reagent eliminating unwanted side reactions and matrix effects.