Abstract: Lithium chloride satisfied two important factors of catalytic activity：lipophile and charge separation and caused great attention in catalysis field by its special high activity and advantage of selectivity.The research progress of lithium chloride as catalyst at home and abroad in recent years was summarized.The catalytic properties of lithium chloride as main catalyst and co-catalyst were discussed respectively，e.g.：being main catalyst in the esterification of lactide，the condensation of dopamine，the silylation of aldehyde and ketone and the acylation of acetic anhydride；being co-catalyst in the dehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene，the oxidative coupling of methane to ethylene，the oxidation of phenol and the reducing reaction of L-phenylalanine.The advantages and disadvantages of lithium chloride as catalyst were analyzed.The catalytic mechanisms of lithium chloride as main catalyst and co-catalyst were also presented.The application prospect of lithium chloride was forecasted.