The Heck Reaction in Ionic Liquids: Progress and Challenges

As   the   interest   for   environmental   increases   and   environmental   laws   become   more   stringent,   the   need   to   replace   existing   processes   with   new   more   sustainable   technologies   becomes   a   primary   objective.   The   use   of   ionic   liquids   to   replace   organic   solvents  in  metal  catalyzed  reactions  has  recently  gained  much  attention  and  great  progress   has   been   accomplished   in   this   area   in   the   last   years.   This   paper   reviews   the   recent   developments   in   the   application   of   ionic   liquids   and   related   systems   (supported   ionic   liquids,  ionic  polymers,  and  so  on)  in  the  Heck  reaction.  Merits  and  achievements  of  ionic   liquids   were   analyzed   and   discussed   considering   the   possibility   of   increasing   the   effectiveness  of  industrial  processes.