Henry's law constants of diacids and hydroxy polyacids: recommended values

Abstract. In spite of the importance of diacids and functionalised diacids for organic aerosol formation through aqueous-phase processes in droplets and aerosol water, there seems to be no reliable set of experimental values for their Henry's law constants (HLCs). We show that their estimation through the use of infinite dilution activity coefficients is also prone to error. Here we present HLC values for diacids and hydroxy polyacids determined from solubilities, water activities and vapour pressures of solids or solutions, by employing thermodynamic relationships. The vapour pressures are found to be the largest source of error, but the analysis of the obtained HLC points to inconsistencies among specific vapour pressure data sets. Although there is considerable uncertainty, the HLC defined as aqueous concentration per unit gaseous partial pressure of linear α- and ω-diacids appear to be higher than estimated by the often cited review work of Saxena and Hildemann (1996).