Topological study on the toxicity of ionic liquids on Vibrio fischeri by the quantitative structure–activity relationship method

•LogEC50 of ILs on Vibrio fischeri is studied by topological method.•A general topological index was proposed.•A MLR model was developed to predict the toxicity of ionic liquids. As environmentally friendly solvents, ionic liquids (ILs) are unlikely to act as air contaminants or inhalation toxins resulting from their negligible vapor pressure and excellent thermal stability. However, they can be potential water contaminants because of their considerable solubility in water; therefore, a proper toxicological assessment of ILs is essential. The environmental fate of ILs is studied by quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR) method. A multiple linear regression (MLR) model is obtained by topological method using toxicity data of 157 ILs on Vibrio fischeri, which are composed of 74 cations and 22 anions. The topological index developed in our research group is used for predicting the V. fischeri toxicity for the first time. The MLR model is precise for estimating LogEC50 of ILs on V. fischeri with square of correlation coefficient (R2)=0.908 and the average absolute error (AAE)=0.278.