Enantioselective toxicities of chiral ionic liquids 1-alkyl-3-methyl imidazolium tartrate on Scenedesmus obliquus

Ionic liquids (ILs) are being used in various industries during the last few decades, while the good solubility and high stability of ILs may pose a potential threat to the aquatic environment. Effect of chiral ionic liquids (CILs) 1-alkyl-3-methyl imidazolium tartrate (RMIM T) on Scenedesmus obliquus (S.obliquus) was studied. The growth rate inhibition and cell membrane permeability increased with increasing RMIM T concentration and increasing alkyl chain lengths. The IC50 values of D-(−)-tartrate 1-hexyl-3-methyl imidazolium (D-(−)-HMIM T) were 28.30, 12.23,10.15 and 14.41 mg/L, respectively, at 24, 48, 72 and 96 h. While that of L-(+)-tartrate 1-hexyl-3-methyl imidazolium (L-(+)-HMIM T) were 15.97, 7.91, 9.43 and 12.04 mg/L respectively. The concentration of chl a, chl b and chl (a + b) decreased with increasing RMIM T concentration. The chlorophyll fluorescence parameters (F0, Fv/Fm, Fv/F0, Y(II), ETR and NPQ) were affected by RMIM T, indicating that the RMIM T will damage the PSII, inhibit the transmission of excitation energy, decrease the efficiency of photosynthesis. The results showed that there were enantioselective toxicity of RMIM T to algae, and the toxicity of L-(+)-RMIM T was greater than that of D-(−)-RMIM T, but the enantioselective difference becomes smaller with increasing exposure time, and with the increasing carbon chain length of cation, indicating that cation properties may have a larger effect on toxicity than anion properties.