Ionic liquid as reagent. A green procedure for the regioselective conversion of epoxides to vicinal-halohydrins using [AcMIm]X under catalyst- and solvent-free conditions.

A variety of structurally diverse epoxides undergo facile cleavages by ionic liquid, [AcMIm]X without any catalyst and solvent to produce the corresponding vicinal halohydrins in high yields. The cleavages are considerably fast and highly regioselective.