Abstract
The interactions of polar and nonpolar volatile
organic compounds (VOC) with methyl ester solvents were studied.
In order to establish trends two polar and two nonpolar solutes were
selected for the study. Solubility computations were performed using
the Modified UNIFAC Dortmund group contribution model using a
Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. It was found that the solubility of
nonpolar solutes in methyl esters increases with an increase in ester
chain length, but decreases with an increase in the solute chain
length. Furthermore the solubility of nonpolar solutes decreases with
an increase in the degree of ester solvent unsaturation. In contrast the
solubility of polar solutes in methyl esters decreases with an increase
in solvent chain length and increases with increasing solute chain
length. Solubility of polar solutes also improved with an increase in
the degree of solvent unsaturation. An increase in branching on polar
solutes results in an increasing trend towards nonpolar behavior due
to the shielding effect of the branches on interactions with the polar
site of the solute.