Quantitative aspects of the degradation of mitomycin C in alkaline solution.

The alkaline hydrolysis of mitomycin C has been studied over a wide range of pH/H_(7-15). A stability-indicating high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method was used to separate the degradation products from the parent drug. The quantitative effects of temperature and buffers on the degradation of mitomycin C in alkali have been determined. A profile of log k(obs) against pH/H_ was constructed after corrections had been made for buffer effects and after extrapolation to 25 degrees C by application of the Arrhenius equation.