ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the following two key points in depth: chemical synthesis of carbohydrates in ionic liquids, enzymatic synthesis of carbohydrates in ionic liquids (ILs). Due to the low solubility of underivatized carbohydrates in traditional organic solvents, research has focused on the chemical and enzymatic synthesis of carbohydrates in polar green solvents, such as water and ionic liquids. Green chemistry offers the tools to build a sustainable industrial and research effort. Renewable feedstocks, biocatalyzed reactions carried out under mild conditions, at room temperature, in water or other green solvents, and with high atom efficiency are among the strategies employed to achieve such goals. It is worth mentioning that lipase catalysis in ILs has been also investigated in the regioselective hydrolysis of peracetylated sugars, leading to very useful synthetic intermediates. In this context, those ILs with high capability to solve carbohydrates can offer the possibility of increase in the concentration of reactants and reduce the aqueous media.
