Electrostatic immobilization of substrate and polyoxotungstate catalyst at the surface of micelles for enhanced reaction efficiency in water

• Immobilization of substrate and catalyst at the surface of micelles for efficiency
• The concentration of reactants at the surface of micelles improves the reaction.
• The effects of micelles on the catalyst properties are investigated.
• The compartmentalization of the media leads to efficient and recoverable systems.

Polyoxometalate (POM)-based micellar catalysts were prepared by assembling the Keggin tri-anion [PW12O40]3 − and (L)-N-acetylmethioninate salts of Gemini surfactants in water. Contrary to conventional catalytic systems, we propose a new approach in which the POM catalyst and the substrate to be oxidized ((L)-N-acetylmethioninate) are both localized at the surface of micelles by electrostatic interaction before the reaction. The high local concentration of reactants due to their confinement at the surface of micelles enhances the reaction kinetics. Catalyst recovery experiments showed that, after two cycles of reactions, the activity of the catalysts  was not changed.