Synthesis, physical properties and cytotoxic assessment of ester-terminated gemini imidazolium surfactants.

[Display omitted] • Ester functionalized imidazolium geminis have been synthesized. • These imidazolium surfactants have lower cmc values compared to conventional cationic surfactants. • These geminis demonstrate remarkable thermal stability, which decreases as spacer length increases. • Display Non-cytotoxicity on C6 Glioma cell. Ester-functionalized gemini imidazolium amphiphiles appended with different spacers have been developed. The desired structures were confirmed using mass spectroscopy and NMR techniques. With the help of tensiometry, conductometry, and spectrofluorometry, the investigated amphiphiles have been characterized for a variety of physical properties including Gibbs free energy of adsorption (ΔG0 ads), C 20 (surfactant concentration required to reduce the surface tension of the solvent by 20 mN•m−1), maximum surface excess (Ʈ max), critical micelle concentration (cmc), Gibbs free energy of the micellization (ΔG0 mic) and A min (minimum surface area/molecule). Dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements were taken to examine aggregate size distribution and zeta potential. Thermal decomposition temperature of investigated amphiphiles was determined from thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) analysis. By using the MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay, the toxicity of examined amphiphiles towards the C6 glioma cell line was assessed. The physicochemical study of these surfactants revealed that varying spacer length considerably affects the properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]