The use of environmentally benign nanoreactors in water is crucial for sustainable organic synthesis. Herein, we report that nanomicelles formulated by two surfactants (cationic cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) and nonionic polyoxyethylene (23) lauryl ether (Brij-35)) in water produce efficient catalysis of diperiodatoargentate(III) directed oxidation of unsaturated alcohol, isoprenol. Interestingly, the maximum speed of reaction was observed when CPC and Brij-35 existed together in a 1 : 1 mole ratio. The kinetic outcome was elucidated with the help of ¹H NMR analysis and favourable micellization of the binary surfactant system. The various mixed micellar microenvironment influences the reaction rate following the confinement of reactants at close proximity to the micellar pseudophase. The reaction, performed through this green envelope of mixed micellar media, reduces the time of reaction effectively.

Mixed micelles, an emerging strategy with the potential to perform an organic reaction in aqueous phase, have been employed in the oxidation of benzyl alcohol by diperiodatoargentate(III) in alkaline media. Herein, two commonly available surfactants, cationic CPC (cetylpyridinium chloride) and nonionic Brij-35 (polyoxyethylene (23) lauryl ether), are used to fabricate the micellar assembly, which have shown a huge catalytic activity for the aforementioned oxidation process, since the reaction time reduces from 1 day to 5 min. In order to evaluate the synergistic effect of the CPC/Brij-35 binary mixture in the oxidation process, the favourable micellization, greater solubilisation of benzyl alcohol, and the significant electrostatic attraction between the negatively charged Ag(III) metal centre and the mixed micellar microenvironment have been corroborated. Dynamic light scattering, zeta potential, and ¹H NMR measurements supported the kinetic profile of the oxidation while CMCs for all compositions have been determined from conductometric and fluorometric measurements. On the basis of all these results, we have suggested a possible pathway and reaction zone in mixed micellar media.

The treatment of environmental pollution by employing microorganisms is a promising technology, termed bioremediation, which has several advantages over the other established conventional remediation techniques. Consequently, there is an urgent inevitability to develop pragmatic techniques for bioremediation, accompanied by the potency of detoxifying soil environments completely. The bioremediation of contaminated soils has been shown to be an alternative that could be an economically viable way to restore polluted soil. The soil environments have long been extremely polluted by a number of contaminants, like agrochemicals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, heavy metals, emerging pollutants, etc. In order to achieve a quick remediation overcoming several difficulties the utility of biosurfactants became an excellent advancement and that is why, nowadays, the biosurfactant mediated recovery of soil is a focus of interest to the researcher of the environmental science field specifically. This review provides an outline of the present scenario of soil bioremediation by employing a microbial biosurfactant. In addition to this, a brief account of the pollutants is highlighted along with how they contaminate the soil. Finally, we address the future outlook for bioremediation technologies that can be executed with a superior efficiency to restore a polluted area, even though its practical applicability has been cultivated tremendously over the few decades.