Partition of volatile organic compounds from air and from water into plant cuticular matrix: An LFER analysis

The partitioning of organic compounds between air and foliage and between water and foliage is of considerable environmental interest. The purpose of this work is to show that partitioning into the cuticular matrix of one particular species can be satisfactorily modeled by general equations we have previously developed and, hence, that the same general equations could be used to model partitioning into other plant materials of the same or different species. The general equations are linear free energy relationships that employ descriptors far polarity/polarizability, hydrogen bond acidity and basicity, dispersive effects, and volume. They have been applied to the partition of 62 Very varied organic compounds between cuticular matrix of the tomato fruit, Lycopersicon esculentum and either air (MXa) or water (MXw). Values of log MXa coveting a range of 12.4 log units are correlated with a standard deviation of 0.232 log unit, and values of log MXw covering a range of 7.6 log unit are correlated with an SD of 0.236 log unit. Possibilities are discussed for the prediction of new air-plant cuticular matrix and water-plant cuticular matrix partition values on the basis of the equations developed.