Prediction of capacity factors for aqueous organic solutes adsorbed on a porous acrylic resin

The capacity factors of 20 aromatic, allphatic, and allcycllc organic solutes with carboxyl, hydroxyl, amine, and methyl functional groups were determined on Amberlite XAD-8, a porous acrylic resin. The logarithm of the capacity factor, k', correlated inversely with the logarithm of the aqueous molar solubility with significance of less than 0.001. The log k'-log solubility relationship may be used to predict the capacity of any organic solute for XAD-8 using only the solubility of the solute. The prediction is useful as a guide for determining the proper ratio of sample to column size In the preconcentration of organic solutes from water. The inverse relationship of solubility and capacity is due to the unfavorable entropy of solution of organic solutes which affects both solubility and sorption.