Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 20, 2026

Analysis of Organochlorine Pesticides in a Soil Sample by a Modified QuEChERS Approach Using Ammonium Formate
Published on: January 20, 2023
Quantitative structure-property relationships for octanol-air partition coefficients of polychlorinated naphthalenes,
Jingwen Chen1, Xingya Xue, Karl-Werner Schramm
1School of Environmental Science and Technology, Dalian University of Technology, Zhongshan Road 158-129, 116012, Dalian, People's Republic of China. jwchen@dlut.edu.cn
Abstract:
The octanol-air partition coefficient (K(OA)) is a key descriptor of chemicals partitioning between the atmosphere and environmental organic phases. Quantitative structure-property relationships (QSPR) are necessary to model and predict K(OA) from molecular structures. Based on 12 quantum chemical descriptors computed by the PM3 Hamiltonian, using partial least squares (PLS) analysis, a QSPR model for logarithms of K(OA) to base 10 (logK(OA)) for polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs), chlorobenzenes and p,p'-DDT was obtained. The cross-validated Q(2)(cum) value of the model is 0.973, indicating a good predictive ability of the model. The main factors governing logK(OA) of the PCNs, chlorobenzenes, and p,p'-DDT are, in order of decreasing importance, molecular size and molecular ability of donating/accepting electrons to participate in intermolecular interactions. The intermolecular dispersive interactions play a leading role in governing logK(OA). The more chlorines in PCN and chlorobenzene molecules, the greater the logK(OA) values. Increasing E(LUMO) (the energy of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital) of the molecules leads to decreasing logK(OA) values, implying possible intermolecular interactions between the molecules under study and octanol molecules.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Extraction: Partition and Distribution Coefficients
For extracting a solute from an aqueous phase into an organic...
UV–Vis Spectroscopy: Woodward–Fieser Rules
Criteria for Aromaticity and the Hückel 4n + 2 Rule
For the first time, Eric Hückel, a German chemical physicist, derived a set of structural features for a compound to be classified as aromatic. This is now known as Hückel’s rule or the 4n + 2 rule.
Structure of Conjugated Dienes
Conjugated dienes are compounds characterized by the presence of alternating double and single bonds. In a conjugated system like 1,3-butadiene, the unhybridized 2p orbital on each carbon overlaps continuously, allowing the π electrons to be delocalized across the entire molecule. In contrast, this type of overlap does not occur in cumulated and isolated dienes, such as 2,3-pentadiene and 1,4-pentadiene, respectively. Instead, the π electrons remain localized between the double...
Aromatic Hydrocarbon Anions: Structural Overview
Due to the absence of continuous overlap of p...
π Molecular Orbitals of 1,3-Butadiene
The simplest conjugated diene is 1,3-butadiene: a four-carbon system where each carbon is sp2-hybridized and has an unhybridized p orbital that contains an unpaired electron. According to molecular orbital theory, atomic orbitals combine to form molecular orbitals such that the number...

