Ionic Liquid Assisted C-C Bond Formation

Abstract

With their ability to dissolve inorganic as well as organic materials, ionic liquids have emerged as a versatile solvent system for a diverse range of organic transformations. In the past few decades, the literature has witnessed remarkable advances in a wide range of organic conversions carried out in the presence of various imidazolium, pyridinium, pyrrolidinium, quinolinium and diazobicyclo-octane based ionic liquids. In the reaction, ionic liquids serve as a solvent, catalyst or sometimes both. In certain cases, they are also modified with metal nanoparticles or complexes to form heterogeneous catalysts or are immobilized onto solid support like agar-agar to act as solid-support catalysts. Reactions catalysed by ionic liquids incorporating chiral catalysts possess the advantageous features of being highly enantioselective and reproducible, besides being economical and easy to handle. In this review, an updated insight regarding the role played by ionic liquids in various C-C bond-forming organic reactions, has been summarized.