Ecotoxicity and QSAR studies of glycerol ethers in Daphnia magna

Glycerol is currently considered a raw, renewable material, which can be used to synthesize new glycerol derivatives that may be used as green solvents. However, these compounds must be environmentally evaluated before their use. The acute ecotoxicity of a series of mono-, di-, and trialkyl ethers synthesized from glycerol for the crustacean Daphnia magna has been studied. The EC₅₀ values of these ethers after 24 h of exposure were determined according to the OECD 202 protocol. Their possible structural-toxicity relationships according to different alkyl substituents have been discussed after applying different QSAR models (with the DARC-PELCO approach and topological parameters). The results of the immobilization test show that most of the glycerol derivatives studied exhibit relatively low ecotoxicity. There is a correlation between the lipophilicity and the increase of the toxic effect in the crustacean biomodel. Furthermore, the length and the number of the alkyl substituents and ecotoxicity are highly related.