Study on the stability of the serotonin and on the determination of its acidity constants

The present work aimed at describing the spectral behaviour of the scrotonin and to evaluate its acidity constants using three different methods, using two spectrophotometry titrations and a third method that involved point-by-point analysis, which permitted to monitor closely and determine the evolution of the serotonin species in solution as a function of time. The three methods allowed estimation of three acidity constants associated to the same number of functional groups that form part of the molecule. The results given by the point-by-point analysis were: log beta(1) = 24.95 +/- 0.12; log beta(2) = 20.20 +/- 0.10; log beta(3) = 10.89 +/- 0.018. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.