Synthesis, evaluation, and in silico studies of imidazolium and pyridinium-based ionic liquids with Dioctyl succinamic acid anion for enhanced antibacterial applications

A substantial public health risk is bacterial infections, but the effectiveness of antibiotics has declined due to their overuse. In the quest for effective antimicrobial agents, Ionic liquids (ILs) have emerged as promising candidates. We have described the synthesis and comparison of pyridinium- and imidazolium-based ILs using bromide and dioctyl succinamate (DOSA) anions. These synthesized ILs were tested for their antibacterial efficacy against gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus, gram-negative Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa using the agar disc diffusion method. The ILs based on Imidazolium cation showed better antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus. The least MIC values of 0.244 mM and 0.488 mM are shown by [C88im] [Br] and [C88im] [DOSA] respectively, showing the key effect of a counter ion with Imidazolium ILs.