Totally organic biphasic solvent systems for extraction and descriptor determinations.

Partition between two immiscible solvents is widely used in sample preparation procedures for matrix simplification and isolation of target analytes, for separations using countercurrent, centrifugal partition, and liquid-liquid chromatography, and as a method for determining descriptors for use in modeling chemical, biological, and environmental processes. Until recently, most applications employed water as one component of the biphasic system. For compounds of low water solubility or stability, a series of totally organic biphasic systems have been developed to enhance the application range of liquid-liquid partition methods. These systems, their characterization using the solvation parameter model, and applications to sample preparation and the determination of descriptors are described in this review.