Quantitative structure—activity relationships for the toxicity of chlorophenols to mammalian submitochondrial particles

The toxicity of a series of chlorophenols, determined by a short-term in vitro assay utilizing mammalian submitochondrial particles, was related to the physicochemical and structural properties of these compounds. Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships were defined by correlating EC50 values with six molecular descriptors, chosen to represent lipophilic, electronic and steric effects: the n-octanol/water partition coefficient (log KOW), the constant of Hammett (Σσ), the acid dissocidtion constant (pKa), the first order valence molecular connectivity index (1ζv), the perimeter of the efficacious section (ΣD) and the melting point (m.p.). The results of regression analysis showed that log Kow is the most successful descriptor, indicating that the ability of chlorophenols to partition into the lipid bilayer of the mitochondrial membrane has an important role in determining their toxic effects. These results are consistent with a molecular mechanism of uncoupling action based on the chemiosmotic theory and on the protonophoric properties of chlorophenols. The quality of the QSAR models confirms the suitability of the SNIP assay as a short-term prediction tool for aquatic toxicity of environmental pollutants acting on respiratory functions.