Green chemistry aims to minimize the environmental impact of chemical processes by utilizing sustainable and eco-friendly methodologies. Micelles, self-assembled structures formed by surfactants in aqueous solutions, have emerged as an effective reaction medium for organic transformations due to their inexpensive and environmentally benign nature. This review covers the designer reusable surfactants (viz., Brij-35, Coolade, SDS, Triton X-100, TPGS-750-M, NIPAAm-b-PEG, etc.) and their use in aqueous micelles to facilitate a wide range of organic transformations for the carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bond formations, including aza-Michael addition, oxidation, Suzuki Miyaura, Mizoroki-Heck reaction, oxidative alkenylation, 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition, Biginelli reaction, and Buchwald-Hartwig amination reactions. Overall, this review highlights the advancements of micelle-supported reactions in water as a green chemistry approach for sustainable organic synthesis.

doi.org/10.32737/0005-2531-2025-3-105-122