Abstract: Ionic liquids (ILs) show promise for antimicrobial applications but raise concerns about their cytotoxicity. This study systematically evaluates 25 commercially available ILs, assessing their antimicrobial activity against clinically relevant pathogens and their cytotoxicity in nontumorous human embryonic kidney (HEK293T) cells. According to our findings, longer alkyl chains enhanced the antimicrobial potency but increased the cytotoxicity, highlighting a key trade-off. Notably, 1-hexadecyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (C16MIm Cl) demonstrated high selectivity against Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans, while ammonium and phosphonium ILs exhibited high cytotoxicity. By using the selectivity index, we addressed the balance between the efficacy and safety of ILs. In addition, we tentatively assessed the mechanism of cytotoxic effects of ILs and considered possible correlations between the observed cytotoxic and antimicrobial activities and IL lipophilicity. This study provides practical considerations for designing safer antimicrobials on the basis of ILs and calls for a shift toward selectivity-driven IL research.

Cite: Kolesnikov A.E. , Tikhomirov A.D. , Strukova E.N. , Egorova K.S. , Ananikov V.P.
Antimicrobial activity / cytotoxicity trade-offs in ionic liquids: Optimizing the balance via structural variations
Journal of Molecular Liquids. 2025. V.432. 127843 . DOI: 10.1016/j.molliq.2025.127843 Scopus OpenAlex

Identifiers:

Scopus:	2-s2.0-105006645717
OpenAlex:	W4410769437

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