Toxicity of tertiary amine acetates against basidiomycetes and soft-rot fungi

The acetate salts of seven tertiary amines, which provided a series of increasing alkyl chain length from C8 to C18, were screened for fungicidal effectiveness against basidiomycetes and soft-rot fungi in pine and birch timber respectively. Dodecyldimethylamine acetate was the most effective against basidiomycetes (toxic threshold 1.6-3.2 kg/m3). Tetradecyldimethylamine acetate was the most effective against soft-rot fungi, but some decay (mean loss of wood substance 3.1%) occurred at 6 kg/m3, the highest level tested. Decreasing alkyl chain lengths (below C12,) greatly reduced effectiveness whereas increasing alkyl chain length (above C14) caused only a gradual reduction in fungitoxicity