Abstract

Chiral ionic liquids (CILs) have potential application in asymmetric organic synthesis, chiral drug synthesis, stationary phases in chiral chromatography, optical resolution of racemic mixtures and chiral shifting reagents in NMR spectroscopy. CILs may possess central, planar or axial chirality and can be synthesized from chiral pool or via asymmetric synthesis. Although, the synthesis of these species is difficult and costly yet in view of their prominent properties and wide range of applications, recently large number of CILs have been synthesized and employed in synthetic strategies. The present review enlightens various protocols for the synthesis of CILs. The use of these chiral ionic liquids as organocatalysts in synthetically important asymmetric reactions has also been discussed.

Keywords: Ionic liquids, chirality, organocatalysts, asymmetric synthesis, enantioselectivity.

Graphical Abstract