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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 2003  > April  >
Research: Science and Education
Rules of Thumb for Assessing Equilibrium Partitioning of Organic Compounds: Successes and Pitfalls
Kai-Uwe Goss and René P. Schwarzenbach
Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), CH-8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
Cover
April 2003
Vol. 80 No. 4
p. 450
Abstract
Organic compounds are often categorized according to their volatility, polarity, and hydrophobicity. These terms are then used to estimate the equilibrium partitioning of compounds between different phases (e.g., air, water, organic solvents). However, these terms are rather ill-defined, and their application can easily lead to erroneous ideas about the partition behavior of compounds as is demonstrated with several examples. A simple cavity model of bulk phase partitioning in combination with some basic information about the relevant intermolecular interactions (i.e., van der Waals and H-bond interactions) allows the reader to understand the pitfalls of these widespread misconceptions. This model is further used to derive a number of rules that are better suited for a qualitative estimation of the partition behavior of organic compounds between various bulk phases.
More Information
*  Citation
 Goss, Kai-Uwe; Schwarzenbach, René P. J. Chem. Educ. 2003 80 450.
*  Keywords
 CER Misconceptions; Environmental Chemistry; Equilibrium; Intermolecular Forces; Separation Science; Thermodynamics
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 March 10, 2003
February 28, 2005
Full Text PDF corrected (February 2004).
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