Physicochemical properties of selected monoterpenes

Monoterpenes have physical and chemical properties that may make them attractive alternatives to chlorofluorocarbons in many industrial applications. More widespread use of these chemicals will inevitably increase the likelihood of their discharge into the environment. Several physicochemical properties of these compounds are needed to predict their most likely fate in the environment. This paper reports the aqueous solubilities, vapor pressures, and octanol-water partition coefficients of eight monoterpenes (α-pinene, limonene, γ-terpinene, terpinolene, arbanol, α-terpineol, linalool, and plinol). The aqueous solubilities and vapor pressures were measured at two temperatures, and the octanol-water partition coefficients were measured at one temperature. Well-established empirical correlations between these parameters for other organic compounds were used to evaluate the internal consistency of results obtained in this study. In addition, the predictions of two models were compared with the observed results.