Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling coupling reactions with low catalyst loading: a green and sustainable protocol in pure water.

The Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction represents one of the most important synthetic transformations developed in the 20th century. However, the use of toxic organic solvents remains a scientific challenge and an aspect of economical and ecological relevance, and benign water as a reaction medium was found to be highly effective to overcome some of these issues. In the present manuscript, we described Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reactions in neat water, without using any phase transfer reagent. Notably, this protocol also works with ultra-low loading of catalyst with high turnover numbers and also able to couple challenging substrates like aryl chlorides. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2011