Karl Fischer titration (revision 5)
Old revision·11:08, 14 Jul 2024·SigFigSindri
| Karl Fischer titration | |
|---|---|
| Measures | Water (moisture) content |
| Classification | Titrimetric, iodine-based |
| Variants | Volumetric; coulometric |
| Analytical method infobox · conventions | |
Karl Fischer titration is a titrimetric method for determining the water content of a sample, based on the stoichiometric oxidation of sulfur dioxide by iodine in the presence of water. It is the reference technique for moisture determination in lyophilised pharmaceutical solids and is specified in pharmacopoeial moisture chapters worldwide — USP <921> and Ph. Eur. 2.5.12.[1]
The method matters to readers of a certificate of analysis for a specific and frequently misunderstood reason: a chromatographic purity figure is a statement about the relative composition of the material that dissolved, not about how much peptide the vial contains. Water, counterions and residual salts occupy mass. A vial of material reported at 99% purity by HPLC may nevertheless be 6% water and 8% trifluoroacetate by mass, in which case its peptide content is closer to 85%.[2]