Quantification of chemical vapors in chemosensory research

Abstract

Studies of olfaction and chemesthesis often rely on nominal, liquid-phase dilutions to quantify the chemicals tested, even though the associated vapor concentrations constitute the actual stimuli. For more than a decade now, our systematic studies of the olfactory and chemesthetic potency of members of homologous chemical series have routinely included quantification of vapors via gas chromatography. This article depicts the relationships between liquid- and vapor-phase concentrations for 60 volatile organic compounds and summarizes the theoretical and technical factors influencing these relationships. The data presented will allow other investigators working with these materials to express them as vapor concentrations even when they lack the resources to perform the analytical measurements. The paper represents a step toward creation of a practical archive for vapor quantification in chemosensory science.