The solvation properties of the aliphatic alcohols

Solubilities of solute gases and vapours, as log L, where L is the Ostwald solubility coefficient, in the alkan-1-ols from methanol to decan-1-ol have been correlated through the solvation equation of Abraham. It is shown tha t there is a regular progression of solvent properties from methanol to dec an-1-ol, except for the solvent hydrogen-bond basicity that remains the sam e along the series, and, indeed, is the same as that of water. A slightly d ifferent solvation equation is used to correlate the partition of solutes f rom water to the dry alkanols. For the longer chain alkanols, the coefficie nts in the solvation equations approach those in equations for partition fr om water to the wet (water-saturated) alkanols, showing that the solvation properties of the wet and dry alkanols are quite close for the higher alkan ol homologues.