Ionic melting salt imidazole hydrochloride mediated the decarboxylation of (hetero)aromatic carboxylic acids

•This work focuses on an environmentally additive, imidazole hydrochloride, to mediate the decarboxylation of (hetero)aromatic carboxylic acids.•Circumvention of metal additives, oxidants and other additives.•Including advantages such as solvent-free, short reaction time, high yield and simple post-processing.•Additives can be appropriately recovered for secondary utilization.