Unconventional Approaches Involving Cyclodextrin-Based, Self-Assembly-Driven Processes for the Conversion of Organic Substrates in Aqueous Biphasic Catalysis

Aqueous biphasic catalysis is a convenient approach to convert organic, partially soluble molecules in water. However, converting more hydrophobic substrates is much more challenging as their solubility in water is extremely low. During the past ten years, substantial progress has been made towards improving the contact between hydrophobic substrates and a hydrophilic transition-metal catalyst. The main cutting-edge approaches developed in the field by using cyclodextrins as a supramolecular tool will be discussed and compared in this short review.