Heteroassembly Ability of Dicationic Ionic Liquids and Neutral Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients

Geminal Dicationic Ionic Liquids (GDILs) and Their Adsorption on Graphene Nanoflakes

In this work, the configuration and stability of 15 geminal dicationic ionic liquids (GDILs) and their adsorption mechanism on the graphene nanoflake (GNF) are investigated using the density functional theory (DFT) method. We find that the interactions of dications ([DAm]+, [DIm]+, [DImDm]+, [DPy]+, and [DPyrr]+)) are stabilized near the anions ([BF4]-, [PF6]-, and [Tf2N]-) in the most stable configurations of GDILs through electrostatic interactions, van der Waals (vdW) interactions, and hydrogen bonding (H-bonding). Our calculations show that the adsorption of the GDILs on the GNF is consistent with the charge transfer and occurs via X···π (X = N, O, F), C-H···π, and π···π noncovalent interactions, leading to a decrease in the strength of the intermolecular interactions between the dications and anions in the GDILs. The thermochemistry calculations reveal that the formation of GDIL@GNF complexes is an exothermic and favorable reaction. The adsorption energy (Eads) calculations show that the highest Eads values for the interaction of GDILs containing [BF4]-, [PF6]-, and [Tf2N]- anions with the GNF are observed for the [DPy][BF4]@GNF (-23.56 kcal/mol), [DPy][PF6]@GNF (-29.29 kcal/mol), and [DPyrr][Tf2N]@GNF (-24.74 kcal/mol) complexes, respectively. Our results show that the adsorption of the GDILs on the GNF leads to the decrease of the chemical potential (μ), chemical hardness (η), and HOMO-LUMO energy gap (Eg) values and an increase in the electrophilicity index (ω) value of the GNF. In addition, the effect of GDIL adsorption on the UV-vis absorption spectrum was studied at the TD-M06-2X/cc-pVDZ level of theory. We find that the adsorption of GDILs results in minimal change in the shape of the main absorption peak (at λ = 363 nm) in the GNF spectrum and only shifts it to higher wavelengths. On the other hand, a new peak appears in the GNF spectrum upon adsorption of [DPy][Y] (Y = [BF4]-, [PF6]-, and [Tf2N]-) due to the relatively strong π···π interactions between the [DPy]+ dication and GNF. Finally, the transition density matrix (TDM) heat maps show that electron transfers related to the excitation states in the GDIL@GNF complexes occur mainly through π(C=C) → π*(C=C) transitions in the GNF and the transitions from [DPy]+ dication to the GNF.

Antifungal Activity and Stability of Fluconazole Emulsion Containing Ionic Liquids Explained by Intermolecular Interactions

This research reports accelerated stability experiments, the evaluation of intermolecular interactions, and antifungal assays for fluconazole emulsions prepared using ultrasound (US) and magnetic stirring (MS) in the presence of ionic liquids derived from 1,n-(3-methylimidazolium-1-yl)alkane bromide ([CnMIM]Br; n = 12 or 16). The goals of the investigation are to quantify the stability, identify the forces that drive the formation and stability, and determine the antifungal activity of fluconazole-containing emulsions, and corroborate the data from our previous results that indicated that the emulsion based on [C16MIM]Br seemed to be more stable. In this study, accelerated stability experiments evidenced a considerable stability for the [C16MIM]Br emulsions at two temperatures (25 and 37 °C)—the instability index increased in the following order: US40% < US20% < MS. The 1H NMR data showed that the ILs interacts differently with medium-chain triglycerides (MCT). Two distinct interaction mechanisms were also observed for [C12MIM]Br and [C16MIM]Br with fluconazole, in which the latter formed more compact mixed aggregates than the former. The result was corroborated by diffusion data, which showed that ILs suffered a decrease in diffusion in the presence of fluconazole. The antifungal assay showed that emulsions containing ILs displayed superior activity compared with fluconazole alone. The emulsions also showed potent activity in inhibiting a resistant species (C. glabrata—CG34) to FLZ. All emulsions showed weak irritant potential in HET-CAM assay.

Ionic Liquids for Enhanced Drug Delivery: Recent Progress and Prevailing Challenges

Ionic liquids (ILs) are a class of nonmolecular compounds composed only of ions. Compared with traditional organic solvents, ILs have the advantages of wide chemical space, diverse and flexible structures, negligible vapor pressure, and high thermal stability, which make them widely used in many fields of modern science, such as chemical synthesis and catalytic decomposition, electrochemistry, biomass conversion, and biotransformation biotechnology. Because of their special characteristics, ILs have been favored in the pharmaceutical field recently, especially for the development of efficient drug delivery systems. So far, ILs have been successfully designed to promote the dissolution of poorly soluble drugs and the destruction of physiological barriers, such as the tight junction between the stratum corneum and the intestinal epithelium. In addition, ILs can also be combined with other drug strategies to stabilize the structure of small molecules. This Review mainly introduces the application of ILs in drug delivery, emphasizes the potential mechanism of ILs, and presents the key research directions of ILs in the future.

Antimicrobial and Toxicity Evaluation of Imidazolium-Based Dicationic Ionic Liquids with Dicarboxylate Anions

Imidazolium-based dicationic ILs (DILs) presenting antimicrobial activity and relatively low toxicity are highly desirable and are envisioned for use in live tissue to prevent bacterial or fungal infections. In this context, we present here DILs with dicarboxylate anions [C_n(MIM)₂[C_n(MIM)₂][CO₂-(CH₂)_mCO₂], in which n = 4, 6, 8, and 10, and m = 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. The results showed that DILs with an alkyl chain spacer of ten carbons were active against yeasts and the bacterial strains tested. However, most of the DILs were cytotoxic and toxic at 1 mM. By contrast, DILs with alkyl chains possessing less than ten carbons were active against some specific Candidas and bacteria (mainly S. aureus), and they showed moderate cytotoxicity. The best activity against Gram-positive bacteria was observed for [C₄(MIM)₂][Pim] toward MRSA. For the DILs described herein, their level of toxicity against C. elegans was lower than that of most of the mono- and dicationic IL analogs with other anions. Our results showed that the presence of carboxylate anions reduces the toxicity of DILs compared to DILs containing halide anions, which is particularly significant to the means of designing biologically active compounds in antimicrobial formulations.