Palladium-catalyzed micellar cross-couplings: An outlook.

In the last decades, cross-coupling approaches have been widely used to generate structural diversity efficiently. Among various transition-metals, palladium has remained the most understood metal to efficiently catalyze cross-couplings. The introduction of sustainability parameters, such as atom-economy, process mass intensity (PMI), or E-factor highlighted the fundamental inefficiencies associated with the traditional practices in organic synthesis. Critical analysis in the context of these factors identified organic solvents as the major culprit. In this scenario, employing water as a bulk reaction medium for cross-couplings has emerged as an attractive alternative. Fine-tuning the solvation features of water by adding non-ionic surfactant provides an exciting opportunity to practice sustainable organic synthesis. This approach has gained substantial attention in the last ten years and established a basic framework for practicing organic chemistry under aqueous conditions, ultimately reducing the reliance on toxic organic solvents. In this review, along with the future directions and challenges, recent advances in the field of micellar catalysis applied to palladium mediated cross-couplings will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]