Physicochemical properties of higher nonaromatic hydrocarbons: A literature study

Few data are available on the behavior of higher aliphatic hydrocarbons in the environment and especially in relation to hydrophobicity. Sorption to s oil and bioconcentration by aquatic organisms are examples of processes tha t can be estimated from hydrophobicity parameters, such as aqueous solubili ty and octanol-water partition coefficient. A literature study was carried out on these physicochemical properties of aliphatic hydrocarbons containin g ten or more carbon atoms. In general, very few experimental data were fou nd, probably as a consequence of the fact that these parameters are very di fficult to determine for these compounds. Reliable data on hydrophobicity p arameters, for example, were not found for n-alkanes higher than tridecane. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.