Testing the antimicrobial properties of an upcoming “environmental-friendly” family of ionic liquids

Diffusion Agar tests show that the bio-activity for this series of ILs is mainly determined by the anion lipophilicity, although the role of cations may be also envisaged. The dodecylbenzenesulfonate based IL shows the most significant antimicrobial activity with an efficiency against the Gram Positive strain Micrococcus luteus higher than that of Preventol® 80 and Rocima™ 103 used as standards. The corresponding dodecylbenzenesulfonate polyionic liquid do not display both antibacterial and antifungal activity. This behavior is explained in terms of strongest electrostatic interactions operating between the polycation network and anion counterpart, making the active species less bio-available.