Imidazolium-based ionic liquids disrupt saccharomyces cerevisiae cell membrane integrity

Ionic liquids (ILs) are interesting chemical compounds that have a wide range of industrial and scientific applications. They have extraordinary properties, such as the tunability of many of their physical properties and, accordingly, their activities; and the ease of synthesis methods. Hence, they became important building blocks in catalysis, extraction, electrochemistry, analytics, biotechnology, etc. This study determined antifungal activities of various imidazolium-based ionic liquids against yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae via minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) estimation method. Increasing the length of the alkyl group attached to the imidazolium cation, enhanced the antifungal activity of the ILs, as well as their ability of the disruption of the cell membrane integrity. FTIR studies performed on the S. cerevisiae cells treated with the ILs revealed alterations in the biochemical composition of these cells. Interestingly, the alterations in fatty acid content occurred in parallel with the increase in the activity of the molecules upon the increase in the length of the attached alkyl group. This trend was confirmed by statistical analysis and machine learning methodology. The classification of antifungal activities based on FTIR spectra of S. cerevisiae cells yielded a prediction accuracy of 83%, indicating the pharmacy and medicine industries could benefit from machine learning methodology. Furthermore, synthesized ionic compounds exhibit significant potential for pharmaceutical and medical applications.

Discovery of Novel Dimeric Pyridinium Bromide Analogues Inhibits Cancer Cell Growth by Activating Caspases and Downregulating Bcl-2 Protein

Flexible dimeric substituted pyridinium bromides with primary and tertiary amines are prepared by conventional and solvent-free methods. The formation of compounds 2 and 4 is much easier than that of compounds 1 and 3 because of the benzyl carbon which is more electropositive than the primary alkyl carbon. The newly synthesized dimeric pyridinium compounds are optimized using DFT and B3LYP 6-31 g(d,p). The in vitro antiproliferative activity is studied in lung (A549) and breast cancer cell lines (MDA-MB 231). Among the four compounds, 1,1'-(1,3-phenylene bis(methylene)bis 2-aminopyridinium bromide 4 showed potent anticancer activity when compared to the standard drug 5-fluorouracil. 1,1'-(1,3-Phenylene bis(methylene)bis 2-aminopyridinium bromide 4 is not toxic to normal cell lines 3T3-L1 and MRC-5 cell lines. Also, 1,1'-(1,3-phenylene bis(methylene)bis 2-aminopyridinium bromide 4-induced apoptosis in cancer cell lines is examined using AO/EB and Hoechst staining, which is further supported by cell cycle analysis. Western blot analysis showed that 1,1'-(1,3-phenylene bis(methylene)bis 2-aminopyridinium bromide 4 induces apoptosis through the extrinsic apoptotic pathway by upregulating caspase 3 and caspase 9. This compound also downregulates intrinsic apoptotic proteins, including Bcl-2, Bcl-x, and Bad. From the present study results, it is confirmed that 1,1'-(1,3-phenylene bis(methylene)bis 2-aminopyridinium bromide 4 has potent anticancer activity when compared to other compounds.

Contemporary Progress in the Synthetic Strategies of Imidazole and its Biological Activities

Heterocyclic compounds are pervasive in many areas of life and one of the heterocycles, imidazole is a unique heterocyclic five-membered aromatic compound having two sp2 hybridized nitrogen atoms. Its integral name is 1, 3 diazole and previously, it was known as glyoxalin. This moiety has achieved a considerable place among scientists in recent years by reason of its divergent synthetic strategies and uncommon biological and pharmacological activities, for example, anti-convulsant, anti-microbial, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, anti-viral, anti-ulcer, analgesic, etc. Due to distinct therapeutic actions, it is still an engrossed area of research. Researchers currently are inventing new greener methods to synthesize its derivatives and to improve its pharmacological activities. The purpose of this review is to study the literature that can help researchers to explore this area, its prevailing program for synthesis in environmentally friendly conditions and biological profile throughout past decades.

Ionic Liquids in Agrochemistry

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In this review article, we present the latest research in the field of ionic liquids containing biologically active anions and cations, their potential application in the field of agrochemistry and agriculture. The article describes examples of the use of ionic liquids as herbicides, fungicides, antimicrobial agents, deterrents and plant growth stimulants. It also indicates the advantages and disadvantages of using ionic liquids, such as their multitasking, toxicity, thermal stability and solubility in water in comparison with commercial chemicals. Readers will find in the article the prospects for the use of ionic liquids in agriculture, as well as the high value of using ILs as multifunctional biologically active substances.

Synthesis, Characterization, DNA Binding, Anticancer, and Molecular Docking Studies of Novel Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids with Fluorinated Phenylacetamide Tethers

Newer imidazolium ionic liquid (IL) halides 4a-f appending variety of fluorinated phenylacetamide side chains were designed and synthesized through quaternization of 1-methyl and/or 1,2-dimethylimidazole with appropriate 2-chloro-N-(fluorinatedphenyl)acetamides. The resulting ILs were converted to their respective ionic liquid analogues carrying fluorinated counteranions (PF₆ ^-, BF₄ ^-, and/or CF₃COO^-) 5a-r. All newly synthesized ILs were fully characterized using several spectroscopic experiments such as ¹H, ¹³C, ¹¹B, ¹⁹F, ³¹P NMR, and mass analysis. The synthesized ionic liquids were investigated for their DNA binding and anticancer activities. The obtained DNA binding constants ranged from 1.444 × 10⁵ to 3.518 × 10⁵, indicating a reasonably good binding affinity. The percentage of anticancer activities ranged from 48 to 59 with H-1229 cell line, showing quite good anticancer potential. The modeling studies indicated the interactions of the reported molecules with DNA via hydrogen bonds. These were in agreement with those of DNA binding and anticancer results. Briefly, the designed ionic liquids may be used as good anticancer candidates for treating human cancer.

Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids Affect Morphology and Rigidity of Living Cells: An Atomic Force Microscopy Study

The study of the toxicity, biocompatibility, and environmental sustainability of room-temperature ionic liquids (ILs) is still in its infancy. Understanding the impact of ILs on living organisms, especially from the aquatic ecosystem, is urgent, since large amounts of these substances are starting to be employed as solvents in industrial chemical processes, and on the other side, evidence of toxic effects of ILs on microorganisms and single cells have been observed. To date, the toxicity of ILs has been investigated by means of macroscopic assays aimed at characterizing the effective concentrations (like the EC₅₀) that cause the death of a significant fraction of the population of microorganisms and cells. These studies allow us to identify the cell membrane as the first target of the IL interaction, whose effectiveness was correlated to the lipophilicity of the cation, i.e., to the length of the lateral alkyl chain. Our study aimed at investigating the molecular mechanisms underpinning the interaction of ILs with living cells. To this purpose, we carried out a combined topographic and mechanical analysis by atomic force microscopy of living breast metastatic cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) upon interaction with imidazolium-based ILs. We showed that ILs are able to induce modifications of the overall rigidity (effective Young's modulus) and morphology of the cells. Our results demonstrate that ILs act on the physical properties of the outer cell layer (the membrane linked to the actin cytoskeleton), already at concentrations below the EC₅₀. These potentially toxic effects are stronger at higher IL concentrations, as well as with longer lateral chains in the cation.

Evaluation of imidazolium-based ionic liquids towards vermicidal activity: in vitro & in silico studies

A series of six different ionic liquids (ILs) tailored with different N-alkyl side chains (ethyl, butyl, octyl) were synthesized and evaluated for their vermicidal activity against the Indian earthworm, Pheretima posthuma.