"On water": unique reactivity of organic compounds in aqueous suspension

Surfactant-type asymmetric organocatalyst: organocatalytic asymmetric Michael addition to nitrostyrenes in water

A surfactant-type asymmetric organocatalyst (STAO) catalyzed highly efficient Michael addition to nitroalkenes with high stereoselectivities in water without using any organic solvents or additional additives.

Aqueous N-Heterocyclization of Primary Amines and Hydrazines with Dihalides: Microwave-Assisted Syntheses of N-Azacycloalkanes, Isoindole, Pyrazole, Pyrazolidine, and Phthalazine Derivatives

[reactions: see text] The synthesis of nitrogen-containing heterocycles from alkyl dihalides (ditosylates) and primary amines and hydrazines via a simple and efficient cyclocondensation in an alkaline aqueous medium that occurs under microwave irradiation is described. This improved greener synthetic methodology provides a simple and straightforward one-pot approach to the synthesis of a variety of heterocycles, such as substituted azetidines, pyrrolidines, piperidines, azepanes, N-substituted 2,3-dihydro-1H-isoindoles, 4,5-dihydropyrazoles, pyrazolidines, and 1,2-dihydrophthalazines.

Ligand-accelerated vanadium-catalysed epoxidation in water

Vanadium-catalysed epoxidation of allylic alcohols, a classical example of ligand-decelerated catalysis, in water it turns into a ligand-accelerated process.