Solubility properties in polymers and biological media. 2. The correlation and prediction of the solubilities of nonelectrolytes in biological tissues and fluids

• Published in: Journal of medicinal chemistry Vol. 28; no. 7; pp. 865 - 870
• Main Authors: Abraham, Michael H, Kamlet, Mortimer J, Taft, R. W, Doherty, Ruth M, Weathersby, Paul K
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 01.07.1985
• Subjects: Adipose Tissue; Body Fluids; Brain; Gases - blood; Humans; Kidney; Liver; Lung; Mathematics; Muscles; Oils; Solubility; Solvents; Water
• ISSN: 0022-2623; 1520-4804
• DOI: 10.1021/jm00145a004

Solubilities of a range of nonelectrolyte solutes in biological systems, such as blood, plasma, brain, lung, liver, kidney, muscle tissue, and human fat, are correlated and predicted through an equation that takes the form log Ltissue = c + w log Lwater + o log Loil, where L is the Ostwald solubility coefficient (or gas/liquid partition coefficient). The ratio of the constants o and w gives a measure of the "oiliness" of a given biological tissue or fluid. The strong possibility exists that, for many types of nonelectrolyte solutes, simple measurements of solubilities in water and oil (gas/liquid partition coefficients) will allow accurate predictions of solubilities in the above biological solvents, as well as tissue/blood partition coefficients. The solubility of rare gases and the inorganic gases H2, N2, CO, and O2 may be correlated through the simpler equation log Ltissue = l'RG + d', where l' and d' are constants that characterize the phase, and RG is a known parameter, obtained by normalizing and averaging solubilities over a range of solvent systems, that characterizes the solute. Both of the above equations allow prediction of L in biological solvents to within about 20%, which compares well with the precision of the experimental measurements.