On Catalysis by Ionic Liquids

摘要

The concept of green solvent has emerged due to the adverse effect of volatile organic solvents on the environment, and an expectation has been built up on the use of ionic liquids (ILs) as the solvent of the future. However, the environment friendly image of ILs is under scrutiny due to combustibility and cytotoxicity of some ILs that raise concerns over their use as solvents. Thus, to utilize the unique ability of ILs to modulate reactivity and selectivity of organic reactions, it requires redefining their use and organo-catalysis offers a new direction. However, it is unclear how ILs catalyze organic reactions! Often the course of the organic reaction under the influence of ILs takes a completely different route with the change of the cation or the anion for which no rationale has been derived so far leaving the choice of the ILs at random. The present work is aimed toward acquiring a molecular level understanding of the mechanism of catalysis by ILs.