Abstract
Over the last several decades, ionic liquids have become a promising alternative to conventional organic solvents. Initially, ionic liquids were described as “environmentally friendly” substances. However, the results of numerous studies proved that the effects of these compounds on individual ecosystems might be adverse. The presented paper discusses the effect of ionic salts containing natural chiral substituent: (1R,2S,5R)-(−)-menthol in cation and a tetrafluoroborate anion of a general formula of [Cn-Im-Men][BF4] of implementation into the soil on the growth of spring barley and common radish in their early development stages. The obtained results showed that the greatest phytotoxicity was exhibited by ionic liquids containing substituents with the smallest possible number of carbon atoms. The further increase in the length of the chain did not increase the toxicity of these salts for terrestrial plants. Moreover, a compound with a substituent having a chain length of 11 carbon atoms was found to be non-toxic to common radish. The experiment under discussion showed also the effect of these tetrafluoroborates, used in the form of spray, on the development of common sorrel, gallant soldier and white goosefoot. The tests carried out also showed that the most toxic were the compounds with 1 and 3 carbon atoms. The phytotoxicity of tetrafluoroborates was positively correlated with the concentration of these compounds in the soil and was dependent on the genetic features of the genres and varieties of plants used in the experiment.
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The work was financed by a statutory activity subsidy from the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education for the Faculty of Chemistry of Wrocław University of Technology.
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SupplFig. 1
Digital photographs of spring barley on the 14th day after introduction to the soil [C1-Im-Men][BF4] (in mg/kg soil d.w.). (PDF 94 kb)
SupplFig. 2
Digital photographs of spring barley on the 14th day after introduction to the soil [C6-Im-Men][BF4] (in mg/kg soil d.w.). (PDF 128 kb)
SupplFig. 3
Digital photographs of spring barley on the 14th day after introduction to the soil [C8-Im-Men][BF4] (in mg/kg soil d.w.). (PDF 128 kb)
SupplFig. 4
Digital photographs of spring barley on the 14th day after introduction to the soil [C9-Im-Men][BF4] (in mg/kg soil d.w.). (PDF 130 kb)
SupplFig. 5
Digital photographs of spring barley on the 14th day after introduction to the soil [C10-Im-Men][BF4] (in mg/kg soil d.w.). (PDF 129 kb)
SupplFig. 6
Digital photographs of spring barley on the 14th day after introduction to the soil [C11-Im-Men][BF4] (in mg/kg soil d.w.). (PDF 132 kb)
SupplFig. 7
Digital photographs of common radish on the 14th day after introduction to the soil [C3-Im-Men][BF4] (in mg/kg soil d.w.). (PDF 109 kb)
SupplFig. 8
Digital photographs of common radish on the 14th day after introduction to the soil [C6-Im-Men][BF4] (in mg/kg soil d.w.). (PDF 115 kb)
SupplFig. 9
Digital photographs of common radish on the 14th day after introduction to the soil [C8-Im-Men][BF4] (in mg/kg soil d.w.). (PDF 114 kb)
SupplFig. 10
Digital photographs of common radish on the 14th day after introduction to the soil [C9-Im-Men][BF4] (in mg/kg soil d.w.). (PDF 117 kb)
SupplFig. 11
Digital photographs of common radish on the 14th day after introduction to the soil [C10-Im-Men][BF4] (in mg/kg soil d.w.). (PDF 115 kb)
SupplFig. 12
Reaction of plants on spraying with 0.5%, 1.0% and 2.0% [C1-Im-Men][BF4]. (PDF 290 kb)
SupplFig. 13
Reaction of plants on spraying with 0.5%, 1.0% and 2.0% [C6-Im-Men][BF4]. (PDF 322 kb)
SupplFig. 14
Reaction of plants on spraying with 0.5%, 1.0% and 2.0% [C10-Im-Men][BF4]. (PDF 293 kb)
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Biczak, R., Pawłowska, B. & Feder-Kubis, J. The phytotoxicity of ionic liquids from natural pool of (−)-menthol with tetrafluoroborate anion. Environ Sci Pollut Res 22, 11740–11754 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4327-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4327-8