The aim of this study was to determine the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of tebipenem degradation in the solid state. The process was analyzed based on the results obtained by a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method using ultraviolet diode-array detector (DAD)/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (Q-TOF-MS/MS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopic (RS) studies. In dry air, the degradation of tebipenem was a first-order reaction depending on the substrate concentration while at an increased relative air humidity tebipenem was degraded according to the kinetic model of autocatalysis. The thermodynamic parameters: energy of activation (Ea), enthalpy (ΔH(≠a)) and entropy (ΔS(≠a)) of tebipenem degradation were calculated. Following a spectroscopic analysis of degraded samples of tebipenem, a cleavage of the β-lactam bond was proposed as the main degradation pathway, next confirmation using HPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS method.
Keywords: Kinetic and thermodynamic analysis; solid-state stability; tebipenem.