Lipophilicity parameters for ionic liquid cations and their correlation to in vitro cytotoxicity

Regarding the great structural variability of the currently expanding group of ionic liquids, it is highly desirable to understand the basic factors affecting their toxicity in different biological systems. The present study of a set of 74 ionic liquids with imidazolium, pyrrolidinium, pyridinium, quinolinium, quaternary phosphonium and quaternary ammonium cations and the comparatively small anions Cl-Cl-, Br-Br-, BF4-, or PF6- demonstrates the influence of the cation lipophilicity on the cytotoxicity in IPC-81 leukemia cells from rats. The scope of this correlation is limited to ionic liquids with these or similarly small anions that are sufficiently nonreactive under physiological and chromatographic conditions and whose cation lipophilicity does not exceed a certain threshold.