Multicomponent Cascade Synthesis of Biaryl-Based Chalcones in Pure Water and in an Aqueous Micellar Environment

The challenging multicomponent cascade synthesis of biaryl-based chalcones was carried out in pure water and in an aqueous micellar system. The first step of the protocol was a simple Pd-catalysed, ligand-free, and aerobic Suzuki–Miyaura reaction in aqueous medium. This proved to be extremely efficient for the coupling of aryl and heteroaryl bromides with different arylboronic acids. Subsequently, the resulting intermediates underwent an in-situ aldol condensation reaction to give biaryl(hetero)chalcones in good to excellent yields. When the protocol was applied to highly lipophilic or less reactive reagents, micellar catalysis was required for good results. To achieve this, we successfully used a new surfactant obtained from renewable resources that we recently designed. Furthermore, using this additive, the catalytic system can be repeatedly recycled without significant loss of activity.