Recent developments have led to a general procedure that allows the analysis of microcalorimetric data to determine both kinetic and thermodynamic parameters. This makes microcalorimetry a technique with a potential for the accurate prediction of long-term stability, and excipient compatibility, of pharmaceutical compounds. The data presented here show the uses and limitations of this general method when applied to simple solution phase reactions, that are fast to medium term in duration, and suggest how the method may be extended to more complex heterogeneous systems that reflect cases which may be encountered industrially.