Catalytic carbonylation in ionic liquids

Synthesis gas, which is formed upon the gasification of solid fossil fuels, is a source of carbon monoxide-a valuable reagent for chemical industry. In this review, studies performed in the last few years at the Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, on the catalytic carbonylation of olefins, alcohols, and halides in ionic liquids are considered. Catalytic systems containing no phosphine ligands were developed; these systems make it possible to recycle the homogeneous catalyst by the extraction of synthetic products from the reaction mass.