Green Solvents in Organic Synthesis: An Overview

Research concerning green solvents is focused on reducing environmental damages due to the use of toxic solvents in organic chemistry. Hence, there have been developed a lot of solvent-free processes as well as more efficient recycling protocols in the last dec- ades. Unfortunately, these approaches have their limitations. Therefore, the authors review different environmentally benign solvent al- ternatives. This report highlights reactions using water, fluorous solvents, ionic liquids, organic carbonates, supercritical carbon dioxide, as well as biosolvents instead of conventional organic solvents.