Aqueous S N Ar Reactions without a Surfactant: A Scalable Method That Uses Only Water from Start to Finish

Six nucleophilic aromatic substitution (SNAr) reactions were efficiently scaled to 10–20 g batch sizes in water without the use of organic solvents or surfactants. Each reaction reached completion within 6 h through simple heating above the melting points of the reactants. The workup involved filtration with pure water, eliminating the need for organic extraction. This streamlined, solvent- and surfactant-free protocol consistently delivered high-purity crystalline products in excellent yield, offering a significantly more sustainable alternative to traditional SNAr methods that rely on polar aprotic solvents or aqueous surfactant additives.