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Please login to access the full content or check if you have access via8 Perspective: The New World of Organic Chemistry Using Water as Solvent
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Kobayashi, S., Science of Synthesis: Water in Organic Synthesis, (2012) 1, 855.
Solvents play a key role in organic reactions; different reactivities and selectivities are sometimes observed by changing solvents. Even so, however, water is special and is fundamentally different to organic solvents. Completely different reactivities and selectivities are sometimes observed in water compared with organic solvents. In this section, three such examples are described. It should be noted that these are examples and represent only the tip of the iceberg. Many other examples may exist but have not yet been uncovered. It may be that organic reactions in organic solvents and organic reactions in water (aqueous media) are in different dimensions, and thus reactivities and selectivities are different. Another aspect to consider is that organic reactions have mostly been studied in organic solvents. Regarding this point, further discussion can be found in Section 8.4.
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