I had not really looked at the equation before.
Note that there is no KOH fromed, it is simply K+ ions and OH- ions swimming in the water without any interaction between the two.
If I understand the reaction correctly, it is just a potassium salt of penicillin that is being dissolved in water?
And you assume that the H+ from the water takes all places of the K+ in the penicillin salt?
I think it is more complicated, because probably the new compound is a weak acid with a Ka, so part of the penicillin is present as R+ and part as R-H so the reaction is really:
R-K + y H2O --> y R-H + (1-y) R- + K+ + y OH-
while y depends on the Ka of the R-H
At least, that is what I think.
Edited by PingPong, 15 July 2014 - 09:32 AM.