Question

What does PA represent in the following reaction?

(a) \(\frac{[B_w]}{[A_w]}\)

(b) \(\frac{[B_{org}]}{[A_{org}]}\)

(c) \(\frac{[A_{org}]}{[A_w]}\)

(d) \(\frac{[B_{org}]}{[B_w]}\)

The question was asked during an online interview.

Enquiry is from Recent Advances topic in division Recent Advances in Enzyme Technology of Enzyme Technology

Answer 1

Right answer is (c) \(\frac{[A_{org}]}{[A_w]}\)

To explain: The above reaction represents a biphasic system consisting of a mixture of an aqueous and an organic solvent. Kw and Korg represents equilibrium constants for water and organic phase respectively. PA and PB are partition co-efficients of A and B respectively.

Korg = \(\frac{[B_{org}]}{[A_{org}]}\)

PB = \(\frac{[B_{org}]}{[B_w]}\)

Kw = \(\frac{[B_w]}{[A_w]}\)

Partition coefficient for A is represented by PA = \(\frac{[A_{org}]}{[A_w]}\),

Where Aorg and Aw are the concentration of A in organic solvent and water respectively.