Enantioselective Reduction Reactions Using Chiral Ionic Liquids: An Overview

Background: Enantioselective reduction reactions play a key role to synthesize compounds of industrial importance. A number of metal and biocatalysts have been developed for their use in this reaction. Chiral ionic liquids (CILs) have been widely used as the reaction medium and the organocatalysts in enantioselective reduction reactions. Objective: This paper focuses on the systematic literature review about the use of chiral ionic liquids (CILs) in the enantioselective reduction reaction. The mechanistic aspects of these species are also taken into account. Conclusion: This review concludes that a number of chiral ionic liquids (CILs) have been successfully employed as the organocatalysts and the reaction medium in the enantioselective reduction reactions. The review also gives an insight into the role of these species in the reaction mechanism. For most of the reactions, chiral ionic liquids provide promising results in terms of yield and enantioselectivity. The recyclability of these chiral moieties from the reaction mixtures offers an additional benefit for the use of these species in asymmetric reactions.