ECOTOXICITY STUDIES OF PYRIDINIUM BASED IONIC LIQUIDS

Ionic liquids (ILs) are an interesting group of compounds that possess special
properties making them a potential replacement for hazardous organic solvents in
industry. Notably, the usage of pyridiniurn ILs has been reported widely for different
chemical and biological applications. However, the aquatic toxicity data of these
compounds are not available. An adequate process design using this group of
chemicals requires the assessment of the ecotoxicological risks of these chemicals.
The aim is to assess the aquatic toxicity of pyridiniurn ILs using the acute toxicity test
towards vital environmental elements such fish and bacteria. In this study, 22
pyridiniurn ILs with various alkyl chain lengths were synthesized using conventional
and microwave-assisted techniques. Characterization data was obtained using 'H
NMR and l3C NMR. The toxicity evaluation was performed based on Organisation
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Guidelines towards guppy fish.