Microemulsions as Microreactors in Physical Organic Chemistry

Luis García-Río, J. Ramón Leis, Juan C. Mejuto, and Moisés Pérez-Lorenzo

Pure Appl. Chem., 2007, 79, 1111–1123

Microemulsions are very versatile reaction media which nowadays find many applications, ranging from nanoparticle templating to preparative organic chemistry. The thermodynamically stable and microheterogeneous nature of microemulsions, used as reaction media, induces drastic changes in the reagent concentrations, and this can be specifically used for tuning the reaction rates. In particular, amphiphilic organic molecules can accumulate and orient at the oil-water interface, inducing regiospecificity in organic reactions. In this review, we will show the recent tendencies of the use of microemulsions as organic reaction media.