Estimation of aqueous solubility of organic molecules by the group contribution approach. Application to the study of biodegradation.

A reliable and generally applicable aqueous solubility estimation method for organic compounds based on a group contribution approach has been developed. Two models have been established based on two different sets of parameters. One has a higher accuracy, while the other has a more general applicability. The prediction potentials of these two models have been evaluated through cross-validation experiments. For model I, the mean cross-validated r2 and SD for 10 such cross-validation experiments were 0.946 and 0.503 log units, respectively. While for model II, they were 0.953 and 0.546 log units, respectively. Applying our models to estimate the water solubility values for the compounds in an independent test set, we found that model I can be applied to 13 out of 21 compounds with a SD equal to 0.58 log unit and model II can be applied to all the 21 compounds with a SD equal to 1.25 log units. Our models compare favorably to all the current available water estimation methods. A program based on this approach has been written in FORTRAN77 and is currently running on a VAX/VMS system. The program can be applied to estimate the water solubility of the water solubility of any organic chemical with a good or fairly good accuracy except for except for electrolytes. Applying our aqueous solubility estimation models to biodegradation studies, we found that although the water solubility was not the sole factor controlling the rate of biodegradation, ring compounds with greater solubilities were more likely to biodegrade at a faster rate. The significance of the relationship between water solubility and biodegradation activity has been illustrated by predicting the biodegradation activity of 27 new chemicals based solely on their estimated solubility values.     

一种计算水溶解度的经验加合模型的适用范围与局限

我们发展了一种用于预测有机小分子化合物水溶解度(logS)的经验方法XLOGS. 它本质上是一种加合模型, 采用83种原子/基团类型和3个校正因子作为模型的描述符.该方法还可以根据一个合适的参照分子的logS实验值来计算未知化合物的logS值. 我们将XLOGS模型在由4171个化合物组成的训练集上进行了参数化, 多元线性回归获得的相关系数R²和标准偏差SD分别为0.82和0.96单位. 将该训练集进一步分为仅含液体化合物和仅含固体化合物的两个子集. XLOGS模型在这两个子集上的回归结果显示前者优于后者(标准偏差分别为0.65单位和0.94单位). 还利用log1/S和logP(脂水分配系数)之间的差值来研究XLOGS方法在液体和固体化合物数据集上的表现. 研究结果表明: XLOGS等加合法模型更适合应用于这两者差值接近于0的化合物. 我们还将XLOGS和其他三种流行的logS计算模型(包括Qikprop, MOE-logS和ALOGPS)在一个含有132个类药化合物的独立测试集上进行了比较. 总体而言, 我们的研究结果为加合法模型在水溶解度预测方面的合理应用提供了指导.