Abstract
The degradation of benzyl nicotinate in aqueous solution over a pH range of 2.0-10.0 at 50+/-0.2 degrees was studied. The degradation was determined by high performance liquid chromatography. The degradation was observed to follow apparent first-order rate kinetics and the rate constant for the decomposition at 25 degrees was estimated by extrapolation. The reaction was shown to be hydroxide ion catalyzed and the Arrhenius plots showed the temperature dependence of benzyl nicotinate degradation. A significant increase in the stability of benzyl nicotinate was observed when glycerol or polyethylene glycol 400 was incorporated into the aqueous solution.