title: Application of QSAR to biodegradation of linear alkylbenzene sulphonate (LAS) isomers and homologues.
abstract: An approach of initially testing various structure descriptors on a trial and error basis, followed by mechanistic hypothesis and simple mathematical modelling to refine the choice of descriptor, is applied to develop a quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) correlating initial biodegradation relative rate constants with carbon number and substitution position for (4-sulphophenyl)-substituted alkanes (linear alkyl benzene sulphonates, LAS). The relative rate constants are found to be linearly correlated with a composite descriptor, [(0.5 + L-1)-12 + (0.5 + S-1)-12]1/2 where L and S are the carbon numbers of the longer and shorter chains, respectively, counting from the (4-sulphophenyl) substitution position.
authors.affiliation: Unilever Research Port Sunlight Laboratory, Wirral, Merseyside, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Roberts
mesh_terms: D001557:Benzenesulfonates / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D007536:Isomerism; D007700:Kinetics; D008433:Mathematics; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D001557:Benzenesulfonates