Recent developments of ionic liquids in oligosaccharide synthesis: the sweet side of ionic liquids.

The area of ionic liquid (IL) research has seen tremendous growth over the last few decades. The development of novel ILs with new and attractive physical and chemical properties has had a direct impact on organic synthesis. In particular, ILs have had many applications in carbohydrate chemistry including their use as solvents for dissolving high molecular weight carbohydrate polymers such as cellulose and as solvents and catalysts in oligosaccharide synthesis. In this area, ILs have been involved in protecting group manipulation reactions as well as glycosidic couplings leading to new methodologies and enhanced procedures. In addition, ILs have been successfully utilized as solution-phase purification supports. This review focuses on the most recent advances in the application of ILs to oligosaccharide synthesis. This is an emerging area that offers great promise at addressing some of the obstacles that remain on the path towards the automation of oligosaccharide synthesis.