Ionic liquids: media for better molecular catalysis

Ionic liquids (ILs) are more and more suggested as Substitutes for traditional solvents in organic synthesis and catalysis. They are suitable candidates for the dissolution of ionic complexes. They can activate and retain them in a polar state: in fact, they act as sequestrands, opening the route to two-phase processes and easier catalyst recovery. This paper reviews authors' results with the development of new syntheses of ILs and applications in carbon-carbon bond formation (dimerisation of methyl acrylate) and redistribution (ring closing metathesis) reactions using ionic precatalysts.