A chiral ionic compound comprising an alkyl substituted imidazolium cationic core having an alkyl ester side chain (-alkyl-C(O)O-) directly linked to the core and an associated counter anion, characterized in that the -O- atom of the ester side chain is linked to an alpha, a beta or a gamma hydroxycarboxylic acid functionality via the alpha, beta or gamma hydroxy of the acid functionality and the hydroxycarboxylic acid functionality has at least one asymmetric carbon.The chiral ionic liquids (CILs)may be used as novel solvents for organic synthesis. The CILs have the potential to induce asymmetry into substrates or catalysts in a variety of organic transformations. A number of the compounds are biodegradable CILs.
