Peter Langballe

Influence of temperature and storage time after light exposure on the quinine monohydrochloride chemical actinometric system

The ICH guideline on photostability has proposed quinine monohydrochloride chemical actinometric system as a standard method for measuring light exposure during photostability testing. A change in the absorption at 400 nm of quinine monohydrochloride after light exposure corresponds to a defined dose of light. The present work investigated the effect of temperature, light exposure level and the dark reactions following light exposure on the change of absorbance obtained. The change in the absorbance was linear with respect to time, the rate increased threefold in the temperature range of 25-52 degrees C, and the calculated activation energy was 30 kJ/mol as calculated by the Arrhenius equation. For the dark reactions the change in absorbance was non-linear with respect to time. The rate of the dark reactions was smaller than during light exposure and dependent on the light exposure level prior to the dark reactions. The calculated activation energy of the dark reactions was 18 kJ/mol when calculated by the Arrhenius equation on the initial reaction rates. The different activation energy of the light reaction and the dark reactions indicated different degradation patterns of the two reactions. The present study shows that the absorbance change of quinine monohydrochloride chemical actinometric system is dependent on temperature during light exposure and on storage time and storage temperature after light exposure. The method proposed in the ICH guideline should therefore be optimized in terms of definition of temperature and limitations in storage time after light exposure.