The research into ionic liquids (ILs) has escalated in the last two decades, ever since the potential for new chemical technologies was realized. In the period covered by this review, approximately 6000 journal articles have been published on the topic. Compared to classical ILs, the research into DESs is comparatively in its infancy, with the first paper on the subject only published in 2001.1 However, with publications from the past decade now approaching 200 an increasing amount of research effort is focusing on this emerging field. This is a comprehensive review encompassing all research areas and applications relating to DES publications between 2001 and the of 2012. The chief focuses are the two major application areas of deep eutectic solvents (DESs): metal processing and synthesis media. A large proportion of research effort has been focused on the use of DESs as alternative media for metals that are traditionally difficult to plate or process, or involve environmentally hazardous processes. DESs have also been proposed as environmentally benign alternatives for synthesis.