One of the new synthetic cathinones that has a high tendency to replace ecstasy and other established synthetic drugs is N-ethylpentylone, (NEP), due to its high potency, stimulative, hedonic and hallucinatory effects. In order to examine the interactions of NEP, the apparent molar quantities, thermal expansion coefficient, the apparent molar volume at infinite dilution and the limiting apparent molar expansibility were calculated from the experimental measurements of the density of NEP aqueous solutions in different temperature and molality ranges, from T = (293.15 to 313.15) K and from m = (0.05898 to 0.0977) mol·kg–1, respectively. The taste of NEP was estimated by calculated values of apparent specific molar volume at infinite dilution and it was concluded that its taste in aqueous solutions is bitter. Also, using the spectrofluorimetric technique, an intermolecular deactivation of in situ formed ethidium bromide (EB) complex with DNA (EB-DNA) was investigated in the presence of NEP. Obtained results indicated good affinity and efficiency of NEP to substitute EB from the EB-DNA complex via intercalation mode. Using molecular docking, it was concluded that the binding energy obtained for NEP indicates its higher affinity to interact with DNA, compared to methamphetamine and amphetamine, but lower compared to ecstasy. The affinity of NEP to bind to bovine serum albumin (BSA) was also investigated and discussed. It is shown that NEP could be efficiently transported and distributed through the blood and cells.

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In this work, previously prepared protic ionic liquids (PILs) with 1-ammonium-2-propanol cations and five different anions, acetate, trichloroacetate, chloroacetate, 3-chloropropionate, and 4-chlorobutyrate, and their aqueous solutions were characterized. Densities of ionic liquids (ILs) and their diluted aqueous solutions have been measured over the whole composition range at selected temperatures from T = 293.15 to 353.15 K for pure ILs and from T = 293.15 to 313.15 K for diluted aqueous solutions and at atmospheric pressure (p = 0.1 MPa). The influence of specific functional groups on the anion structure, density, volumetric properties, and the nature of interactions in aqueous solutions has been discussed. Several well-known techniques and criteria, such as volumetric quantities, Hepler's coefficient, or expansibility of the ions, were used to explain water structuring and the nature of interactions in the aqueous solutions of studied PILs and classify them as the structure-making (cosmotropes) or structure-breaking (chaotropes) substances.