Solid-phase microextraction as a method for estimating the octanol-water partition coefficient

The determination of octanol-water partition coefficients (log K-ow) is important for the prediction of the fate of organic pollutants in the environment. Traditionally, log K-ow values are determined by shake-flask, estimated by, e,g., HPLC retention data, or calculated, e,g., from ClogP, In this paper, an alternative approach is reported that allows log K-ow to be estimated from solid-phase microextraction (SPME) data, Previously reported attempts to correlate SPME data with log K-ow, are discussed, The results obtained in this work for six phenols, using an 85 mu m polyacrylate-coated fiber, indicate that SPME is a viable method for estimating log K-ow values <3.5.