In this work, dissociation constants values of seven beta lactam antibiotics in water and acetonitrile-water mixtures using spectrophotometric and reversed phase liquid chromatography methods were determined. The dissociation constant values of these compounds were calculated by NLREG and STAR programs. Aqueous pK(a) values of beta lactam antibiotics were calculated with extrapolation by means of the Yasuda-Shedlovsky and mole fraction equations. Finally, application of the different techniques was compared to the determination of aqueous pK(a) values of investigated compounds. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.