The goal of this research was to obtain and characterize ionic liquids based on a bisammonium cation and both 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetate (MCPA) and l-tryptophanate anions. The concept of including two structurally different anions was utilized to achieve improved biological activity, while crucial functional traits could be designed by modifying the cation. The synthesis process was efficient and resulted in high yields. Subsequent analyses (nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)) confirmed the chemical structure, purity, and molar ratio of ions in the obtained compounds. The described compounds are novel and have not been previously described in the literature. Evaluations of physicochemical properties indicated that the obtained double-salt ionic liquids (DSILs) exhibited high thermal stability, high solubility in water, and surface activity. A biological activity assessment using greenhouse tests revealed that the herbicidal efficiency of the studied DSILs was notably increased compared to the reference commercial herbicide (even by ∼50% in the case of oilseed rape), which could be attributed to their high wettability toward hydrophobic surfaces. The compounds also efficiently inhibited the growth of several microbial species, with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC)/minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) values at the level of several μg·mL-1. The length of the spacer and alkyl substituent in the cation notably influenced the physicochemical and biological properties of the DSILs, which allowed us to design the structures of the obtained compounds in accordance with needs. The presented results confirm the high application potential of the described DSILs and provide a new and promising path for obtaining new and efficient plant-protection agents.
© 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.