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Esmolol hydrochloride degrades in aqueous solutions by the hydrolysis of a labile aliphatic carboxyester group. The products are methanol and ASL-8123. The resulting aliphatic carboxylic acid moiety (ASL-8123) has a pK of 4.80, which is within 1 pH unit of the pH of the formulation. ASL-8123 therefore acts as a "secondary buffer" and minimizes the change in pH due to degradation. Equations are presented to calculate the change in the pH when the primary degradation product acts as a secondary buffer. This information can be used in the development of a parenteral product to predict, a priori, the concentration of buffer necessary for optimal pH maintenance. This knowledge can reduce the number of formulation screens required to determine the necessary buffer capacity for optimal drug stability.