The imidazole ring is ubiquitous in nature and imidazole functionality plays a critical role in many structures within the human body, notably as histamine and histadine. Imidazoles offer many biophysical interactions including their ability to hydrogen bond with drugs and proteins. In contrast, imidazolium salts have lost their strong hydrogen-bonding ability through alkylation of both nitrogens, but they are able to aggregate electrostatically. Imidazolium salts are used to extract metal ions from aqueous solutions, dissolve carbohydrates, create polyelectrolyte brushes on surfaces, coat metal nanoparticles, provide antimicrobial action, and create oriented liquid crystals. Bioactive applications include imidazolium hydrogels, antiarrhythmics, and anti-metastic agents. This review will describe the synthesis and design of imidazole derivatives and imidazolium-containing polymers as bioactive materials. Imidazole-based polymers readily associate with biological molecules through hydrogen-bonding, and imidazolium analogs offer electrostatic interactions, aggregation, and self-assembly. Design of novel imidazole- and imidazolium-based macromolecules remains as an exciting and emerging field.

咪唑环本质上是普遍存在的，咪唑官能团在人体内的许多结构中起着至关重要的作用，特别是组胺和组胺。咪唑具有许多生物物理相互作用，包括它们与药物和蛋白质发生氢键的能力。相反，咪唑鎓盐通过两个氮的烷基化失去了很强的氢键合能力，但是它们能够静电聚集。咪唑鎓盐用于从水溶液中提取金属离​​子，溶解碳水化合物，在表面上形成聚电解质刷，涂覆金属纳米颗粒，提供抗菌作用并生成定向液晶。具有生物活性的应用包括咪唑鎓水凝胶，抗心律失常药和抗转移药。这篇综述将描述咪唑衍生物和含咪唑鎓聚合物作为生物活性材料的合成和设计。咪唑基聚合物很容易通过氢键与生物分子缔合，咪唑类似物提供静电相互作用，聚集和自组装。新型基于咪唑和咪唑的大分子的设计仍然是一个令人兴奋和新兴的领域。