Effects of Physicochemical Properties of Constituent Ions of Ionic Liquid on Its Permeation through a Silicone Membrane

Ionic liquids (ILs), defined as liquid salts composed of anions and cations, have the advantage of allow-ing constituent ions to be stably absorbed through biological membranes, such as skin. However, limited information is currently available on the effects of the physicochemical properties of constituent ions on the membrane permeation of ILs. Therefore, we herein investigated the effects of the polarity of constituent cat-ions on the membrane permeation of each constituent ion from IL. Various ILs were prepared by selecting lidocaine (LID) as a cation and a series of p-alkylbenzoic acids with different n-octanol/water partition coef-ficients (Ko/w) as anions. These ILs were applied to a skin model, a silicone membrane, and membrane per-meability was investigated. The membrane permeabilities of p-alkylbenzoic acids from their single aqueous suspensions were also measured for comparison. The membrane permeability of p-alkylbenzoic acid from the aqueous suspension increased at higher Ko/w. However, the membrane permeability of ILs was similar regardless of the Ko/w of the constituent p-alkylbenzoic acid. Furthermore, the membrane permeability of the counterion LID remained unchanged regardless of the constituent p-alkylbenzoic acid. These results suggest that even when the Ko/w of IL constituents markedly differs, the resulting IL does not affect membrane per-meability.

Automated summary

This study investigated the impact of the polarity of constituent cations in ionic liquids on membrane permeation, and found that the membrane permeability of ILs is not affected by the Ko/w of the constituent p-alkylbenzoic acid. The results suggest that the resulting IL does not affect membrane permeability even when the Ko/w of IL constituents markedly differs.