QUANTITATIVE STRUCTURE-ACTIVITY-RELATIONSHIPS FOR BIODEGRADATION

Quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSARs) between biodegradation rates of organic compounds and chemical structure parameters are reviewed. Although a number of such relationships have been developed, they in general only apply to restricted ranges of compounds, limiting their value as predictors of biodegradation rates. For many of these classes of chemicals relationships have been reported with different structural descriptors, varying from macroscopic physical properties to molecular structure parameters. More information on the mechanism and rate-determining steps of biodegradation, which can lead to a better-founded choice of descriptors, and more biodegradation rate data are required to further develop QSARs for biodegradation. © 1990.