Trace Aldehydes in Solid Oral Dosage Forms as Catalysts for Nitrosating Secondary Amines

Nitrosamine impurities may form during drug substance manufacturing processes. Here, we focus on nitrosamine impurity level growth in oral drug products during long term stability studies. Nitrosamine growth mechanisms in oral dosage forms are typically framed as due to nitrosating agents that can be formed in solutions of nitrous acid with a required pH value of around pH 5 or below. We strive in this work to bring awareness to pharmaceutical scientists that formaldehyde, common in oral dosage form excipients, has previously been shown in solution to catalyze the reaction between secondary amines and nitrite ion to give nitrosamine products. This mechanism operates at pH ∼6 and higher. We attempt to re-frame the solution work as relevant to pharmaceutical solid dosage forms. Recent examples of solid dosage form product recalls are used to demonstrate the formaldehyde catalyzed nitrosation pathway operating in the solid state.