title: Imidazolium salts: a mild reducing and antioxidative reagent.
abstract: The concept of directly using imidazolium salts (IMSs) as mild reducing and antioxidative reagents was proposed and investigated. A simple and robust protocol for the synthesis of stable, ultrafine gold nanoparticles has been established using IMSs under mild conditions. IMSs showed remarkably lower toxicity but greater antioxidative power than N-acetyl-L-cystein and (-)-epigallocatechin gallate on HSC-T6 cells. These studies demonstrate that the simple and inexpensive IMSs represent a new type of antioxidant with potential biomedical applications.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, 31 Biopolis Way, The Nanos, Singapore 138669.
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Chunyan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Lang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhuo
authors.forename: Yugen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jackie Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Ying