Demethylation Kinetics of Aspartame and L-Phenylalanine Methyl Ester in Aqueous Solution

Abstract
The kinetics of demethylation of aspartame and L-phenylalanine methyl ester were studied in aqueous solution at 25°C over the pH range 0.27–11.5. The pseudo-first-order rate constant for aspartame was resolved into individual contributions from methyl ester hydrolysis and diketopiperazine formation. pH – rate profiles were quantitatively described by chemically reasonable kinetic schemes. Aspartame is maximally stable at pH 4 (t90 = 53 days at 25°C); phe-nylalanine methyl ester, at pH 3. The potentiometrically measured pKa values were pKa1 3.19 and pKa2 7.87 fr aspartame and pKa 7.11 for phenylalanine methyl ester.