New room temperature ionic liquids with interesting ecotoxicological and antimicrobial properties.

A new set of room temperature ionic liquids (RTIL), tetrabutylammonium (TBA) salts: formate, acetate, propionate, butyrate, benzoate, nitrobenzoate, cinnamate, salicylate, sulfanilate, linoleate, and oleate, were prepared by neutralization of tetrabutylammonium hydroxide (TBA OH) and the corresponding acid. The compounds showed interesting chemical and biological properties. They are soluble in water and organic solvents producing conducting solutions and are effective against certain Gram-negative as well as Gram-positive bacteria. Notably, they affected some proteins such as bovine serum albumin (BSA) and catalase (CAT) as inferred by following the fluorescence emission spectra.