1-O-acyl glucuronides are reactive Phase II metabolites which can alkylate chemical nucleophiles. Industrial sulfate ester mixed anhydrides have been reported to be active acylating agents. This study was undertaken in order to establish that sulfate ester mixed anhydrides of clinically useful drugs could be synthesized, purified, and characterized as reactive chemical species. Their ability to alkylate 4-(p-nitrobenzyl)pyridine (NBP) and their stability in aqueous solution was compared with 1-O-acyl glucuronide conjugates of the same drugs. Synthesis of the 1-O-acyl glucuronides of the hypolipidemic agent, clofibric acid, and the nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs flufenamic acid and indomethacin were catalyzed by immobilized microsomal rabbit liver UDP-glucuronyltransferase. Potassium salts of the sulfate ester mixed anhydrides of these drugs were synthesized chemically by temperature-controlled reaction with chlorosulfonic acid in anhydrous pyridine. Half-lives at pH 2.0, 6.0, 7.4, and 10.0 were determined for each compound. The reactivity of the acyl glucuronides and sulfate ester mixed anhydrides towards the standard chemical nucleophile, 4-(p-nitrobenzyl pyridine (NBP), was measured using a spectrophotometric assay at several substrate concentrations. Acyl sulfate ester mixed anhydrides were shown to be 3-20 times more reactive towards NBP than their corresponding 1-O-acyl glucuronides. For both glucuronides and sulfate esters, relative reactivity towards NBP was: clofibric acid greater than indomethacin greater than flufenamic acid. This behavior paralleled the hydrolytic instability of the compounds.