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Updated: Feb 9, 2026

On-Chip Octanol-Assisted Liposome Assembly for Bioengineering
Published on: March 17, 2023
Liposome-water and octanol-water partitioning of alcohol ethoxylates
Markus T Muuller1, Alexander J B Zehnder2, Beate I Escher3
1Swiss Federal Institute for Material Testing and Research (EMPA), CH-9013 St. Gallen, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Liposome-water partitioning coefficients, (Klipw s), were determined for eight pure alcohol ethoxylates using equilibrium dialysis and ultracentrifugation. Both methods yielded statistically indistinguishable results. The experimentally determined log Klipw s were compared with log Kow values estimated with the fragment method using different literature sources for the fragment constants. Fragments of log Klipw were calculated for the ethoxy group (EO) and the -CH2 - units from the experimentally determined data. An additional -CH2 - unit causes an average increase of log Klipw by 0.45, and an additional EO causes an average decrease of log Klipw by -0.12. With these fragments, the quality of log Klipw estimations can be improved significantly as compared to simple linear regression of log Klipw versus log Kow . The Klipw values calculated according to the new fragment method for pure compounds and for commercial mixtures are shown to be adequate descriptors for quantitative structure-activity relationships of bioaccumulation, toxicity, and sorption to natural organic material.
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