Global and local QSPR models to predict supercooled vapour pressure for organic compounds

In this study, a quantitative structure–property relationship (QSPR) approach was used for estimation of logarithmic values of supercooled liquid vapour pressure (log <i>P</i>_L) of a large set of structurally diverse organic compounds. This set includes 12 local sets of aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, ethers, polychlorinated and brominated diphenylethers, polychlorinated naphthalenes and alcohols. Some simple models based on the linear relationship between log <i>P</i>_L and VolSurf descriptors were developed as global models, and a general equation as a simple way to calculate the supercooled liquid vapour pressure of organic chemicals was provided. A descriptor representing the hydrophilic regions (WO₁) of organic chemicals showed the highest correlation with log <i>P</i>_L and resulted in a one-parameter global model characterized by satisfactory statistical performance; calibration (<i>r</i>²_c) and prediction (<i>r</i>²_p) correlation coefficient of 0.84 and 0.85, respectively. Moreover, local QSPR models were also developed for each subset of organic compounds and, as expected, the statistical results obtained from these models were better than the global one. From the descriptors involved in the models, it is concluded that the hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions at different energy levels and polarizability usually determine the variation of supercooled liquid vapour pressure of organic compounds.