An efficient and practical ionic liquid phase synthesis (IoLiPS) of aza-heterocycles has been developed through a ‘catch-and-release’ strategy using an ionic liquid-supported hypervalent iodine reagent. The hypervalent iodine played a dual role as a reagent and as a soluble support. This strategy provided a combinatorial approach for the synthesis of 2-aminothiazoles and imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines directly from substituted acetophenones in good to excellent yields. The use of an ionic liquid supported reagent offered better isolation of the products by simple extraction with organic solvents.