Synthesis, Characterization, and Antibacterial Evaluation of Novel Imidazolium Salts and Their Silver (I) N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes

Imidazolium salts are of great interest due to their unique structure and applications in the biological field, stemming from their nitrogen-derived heterocyclic carbene (NHC) mineral composition. This article presents a method for synthesising two imidazolium salts (L- and FT-IR spectroscopy, melting point analysis, and 1H/13C NMR spectroscopy were used to characterise the imidazolium salts and the two compounds). The formation of silver(I)-NHC compounds was confirmed by the disappearance of the characteristic C2-H acid proton signal in the 1H NMR spectra. Specific types of bacteria were used to study the antibacterial activity of compounds A and B. The results showed that the silver(I)-NHC compounds exhibited significantly enhanced antibacterial activity compared to the corresponding imidazolium salts. This improvement is attributed to the synergistic effect between the silver ion and the NHC ligand framework. These findings indicate that silver(I)–NHC complexes derived from imidazolium salts are promising candidates for further development as antibacterial agents.