A novel greener glycosidation using an acid–ionic liquid containing a protic acid

The glycosidations of glucopyranosyl diethyl phosphite and alcohols using an ionic liquid, 1-n-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonimidide (C6mim[NTf2]) containing a protic acid, trifluoromethanesulfonimide (HNTf2), as a novel solvent-catalyst system, effectively proceeded under mild conditions to give the corresponding glycosides in good to high yields. Furthermore, this acid–ionic liquid combination could be reused many times for the glycosidations without any loss in efficiency.