Opening an Aladdin's cave: the Suzuki coupling in a room-temperature ionic liquid

Abstract

This viewpoint will discuss the impact of the 2000 Chem. Commun. report that the palladium-catalysed Suzuki coupling can be performed quickly and easily in a room-temperature ionic liquid. This work has helped fuel what have now become whole areas of chemistry of their own: the use of ionic liquids as reaction media for catalytic transformations, and the application of palladium complexes bearing N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands in the Suzuki coupling and beyond.