Regio-, stereo-, and enantioselective reactions of carbon acids catalyzed by recoverable organic catalysts bearing ionic liquid moieties

Abstract

Organic compounds bearing specific ionic liquid (IL) moieties, in particular, bulky organic cations and fluorinated organic or inorganic anions, catalyze many important reactions of carbon acids involving carbanions and enols as reactive species, such as aldol, Michael, and dichlorocyclopropanation reactions. Many of these catalysts are at least comparable to traditional phase-transfer catalysts (PTCs) with halide anions or organocatalysts based on amino acid derivatives. Furthermore, they enjoy the advantage of being readily recoverable and hence are available for multiple recycling in chemical reactions. © 2009 IUPAC.