Octanol-Water Partition Coefficient Formula:
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Definition: The Octanol-Water Partition Coefficient (Kow) is defined as the ratio of the concentration of a solute in a water-saturated octanolic phase to its concentration in an octanol-saturated aqueous phase.
Purpose: It's a key parameter in environmental chemistry and pharmacology that measures how a substance partitions between a lipid (octanol) and water phase.
The calculator uses the formula:
Where:
Explanation: The ratio indicates the compound's hydrophobicity - higher values mean more lipophilic (fat-soluble) compounds.
Details: Kow is crucial for predicting environmental fate of chemicals, drug absorption, and toxicity assessment.
Tips: Enter the concentrations in octanol and water phases in mol/m³. Both values must be > 0.
Q1: What does a high Kow value indicate?
A: High Kow (>10,000) indicates a lipophilic compound that tends to accumulate in fatty tissues.
Q2: What's the typical range for Kow?
A: It can range from 10-3 (hydrophilic) to 107 (extremely hydrophobic).
Q3: How is Kow related to bioaccumulation?
A: Compounds with log Kow > 5 are more likely to bioaccumulate in organisms.
Q4: Why use octanol specifically?
A: Octanol mimics biological membranes better than pure hydrocarbons, making it a standard reference.
Q5: How is Kow measured experimentally?
A: Typically by shaking the compound with octanol-water mixture and measuring concentrations in each phase.