Fluorous catalysis: from the origin to recent advances.

Among the various strategies developed in the last two decades to recycle catalysts, fluorous catalysis has emerged as one of the most powerful approaches as it combines the advantages of homogeneous catalysis for reactivity (molecular catalysts, most often reactions conducted in one-phase homogeneous conditions) and heterogeneous catalysis for catalyst recovery (liquid/liquid- or solid/liquid-phase separation protocols). Of particular interest is the general character of this approach and the variety and efficiency of separation protocols available to recover catalysts.