Increased environmental consciousness within the scientific community has spurred the search for environmentally friendly processes as alternatives to conventional organic solvents. In the past two decades, numerous advances including the use of ionic liquids have made it possible to develop substitutes for some toxic solvents.

Ionic liquids are widely recognized as suitable for use in organic reactions and can also improve the control of product distribution, enhanced reactivity, ease of product recovery, catalyst immobilization, and recycling.