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Potassium Chloride

    Synonyms: Chloride of potash; chloropotassuril; dipotassium dichloride; E508; kalii chloridum; potassium monochloride.

    Description: Potassium chloride occurs as odorless, colorless crystals or a white crystalline powder, with an unpleasant, saline taste. The crystal lattice is a face-centered cubic structure.

    Chemical Name: Potassium Chloride

    Therapeutic agent; tonicity agent.

    • Potassium chloride is widely used in a variety of parenteral and nonparenteral pharmaceutical formulations.

    • Its primary use, in parenteral and ophthalmic preparations, is to produce isotonic solutions.

    • Potassium chloride is also used therapeutically in the treatment of hypokalemia.

    • Many solid-dosage forms of potassium chloride exist including: tablets prepared by direct compression and granulation; effervescent tablets; coated, sustained-release tablets; sustained-release wax matrix tablets; microcapsules; pellets; and osmotic pump formulations.

    • Experimentally, potassium chloride is frequently used as a model drug in the development of new solid-dosage forms, particularly for sustained-release or modified-release products.

    • Potassium chloride is also used widely in the food industry as a dietary supplement, pH control agent, stabilizer, thickener, and gelling agent.

    • It can also be used in infant formulations.

    Potassium chloride reacts violently with bromine trifluoride and with a mixture of sulfuric acid and potassium permanganate. The presence of hydrochloric acid, sodium chloride, and magnesium chloride decreases the solubility of potassium chloride in water. Aqueous solutions of potassium chloride form precipitates with lead and silver salts. Intravenous aqueous potassium chloride solutions are incompatible with protein hydrolysate.

    Potassium chloride is used in a large number of pharmaceutical formulations, including oral, parenteral, and topical preparations, both as an excipient and as a therapeutic agent.

    Observe normal precautions appropriate to the circumstances and quantity of material handled.

    Sodium chloride.