Copper-catalyzed Suzuki−Miyaura couplings can be carried out exclusively on aryl iodides under very mild conditions, which is made possible by synergistic effects due to the presence of ppm levels of palladium as cocatalyst. The coupling requires a hemilabile P(O)-N ligand, together with the benefits of micellar catalysis using water as the recyclable reaction medium.

Allylic and benzylic alcohols can be selectively oxidized to their corresponding aldehydes or ketones in water containing nanoreactors composed of the designer surfactant TPGS-750-M. The oxidation relies on catalytic amounts of CuBr, bpy, and TEMPO, with N-methyl-imidazole; air is the stoichiometric oxidant.

Selective Oxidations of Activated Alcohols in Water at Room Temperature. -Secondary allyl alcohols are unreactive under the investigated conditions allowing the selective oxidation of primary allylic alcohols in the presence of secondary allylic substrates. The aqueous surfactant mixture can be recycled and reused for at least five runs. -(LIPSHUTZ*, B. H.; HAGEMAN, M.; FENNEWALD, J. C.; LINSTADT, R.; SLACK, E.; VOIGTRITTER, K.; Chem. Commun. (Cambridge) 50 (2014) 77, 11378-11381, http://dx.