Comparison between phase transfer catalysis and micellar catalysis
Catalysis at liquid-liquid interfaces

A comparison of the two methods described, phase transfer catalysis (PTC) and micellar catalysis, highlights the difference in the number of reactions that could be carried out by each of them:

• Phase transfer catalysis thus appears to offer a wealth of synthetic possibilities.

• Micellar catalysis seems more favorable for kinetic and fundamental studies.

In practice, this should be tempered, as the qualities of CTP in the laboratory (two-phase system) sometimes become drawbacks on an industrial scale (difficult agitation of large volumes of immiscible liquids, high price of catalysts). Furthermore, the qualities of microemulsions (spontaneous microemulsification, very large interfaces) make them extremely interesting media, the exploration of which is only just beginning....