A simple and effective route for the production of levulinic acid (LA) from cellulose has been developed in SO3H-functionalized ionic liquids. The effects of ionic liquid structures, reaction conditions and combination of metal chlorides with ILs on the yield of LA were investigated, where the highest yield of 39.4% was obtained for 120 min in the presence of 1-(4-sulfonic acid) butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulphate ([BSMim]HSO4) with addition of H2O. The catalytic activities of ionic liquids depended on the anions and decreased in the order: CF3SO3-> HSO4(-) > OAc-, which was in good agreement with their acidity order. The ILs play a dual solvent-acid role for the cellulose conversion into LA and exhibited favorable catalytic activity over four repeated runs. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.