Application of quantum chemical descriptors into quantitative structure-property relationship models for prediction of the photolysis half-life of PCBs in water

Quantitative structure-property relationship(QSPR)models were developed for prediction of photolysis half-life(t_(1/2))of polychlorinated biphenyls(PCBs)in water under ultraviolet(UV)radiation.Quantum chemical descriptors computed by the PM3 Hamiltonian software were used as independent variables.The cross-validated Q^(2)_(cum)value for the optimal QSPR model is 0.966,indicating good prediction capability for lg t_(1/2)values of PCBs in water.The QSPR results show that the largest negative atomic charge on a carbon atom(Q-C)and the standard heat of formation(ΔH_(f))have a dominant effect on t_(1/2)values of PCBs.Higher Q_(C)^(-)values or lowerΔHf values of the PCBs leads to higher lg t_(1/2)values.In addition,the lg t_(1/2)values of PCBs increase with the increase in the energy of the highest occupied molecular orbital values.Increasing the largest positive atomic charge on a chlorine atom and the most positive net atomic charge on a hydrogen atom in PCBs leads to the decrease of lg t_(1/2)values.