Precipitation reaction of clavulanic acid: thermodynamic and electronic study

In the present article the theoretical calculation of thermodynamic parameters for the two main precipitation agents, potassium 2-ethylhexanoate and t-octylamine, employed by the pharmaceutical industry to obtain potassium clavulanate for clinical use, is described. The results obtained using the standard thermochemistry calculation in the Gaussian package and by calculation of the reactivity indexes of the reagents and products are compared. The calculated thermodynamic parameters indicate that the reactivity indexes present a better correlation with the experimentally obtained percentage yield. In addition, a series of additional precipitation agents that are also used in industrial procedures to obtain potassium clavulanate for clinical use, were compared. This was done to verify if any present, a priori, better properties than potassium 2-ethylhexanoate or t-octylamine. The consistency of the reactivity indexes calculated clearly suggests that the methodology employed can be used to screen future precipitation agents for possible use in the production of potassium clavulanate.