Zinc chloride

Abstract

Zinc(II) chloride is a white crystalline solid, strongly hygroscopic and deliquescent. ZnCl2 is used as Lewis acid catalyst in a wide variety of reactions in organic synthesis. The biggest advantages of ZnCl2 are its low cost, easy to handle, moderate toxicity and broad spectrum acting as a catalyst. In this review some reactions were selected in order to illustrate the catalytic power of ZnCl2.