ABSTRACT
Ionic liquids, being composed entirely of ions, that is, cations and anions, were once mainly of interest to electrochemists and organic chemists. Ionic liquid has prodigious potential as an environmentally benign reaction medium for sustainable chemical synthesis. Since the end of the 1990s, rapidly increasing research efforts have shown that ionic liquid can replace conventional and potentially hazardous organic solvents in a wide range of organic synthesis due to their versatile applications. There is also increasing evidence that the application of ionic liquid can broaden the scope of catalytic behavior. Recently, however, it has become apparent that, inter-alia, their lack of measurable or low vapor pressure proved them as green solvents for the organic synthesis and that a wide range of chemical reactions can be performed in them as discussed in this review.