Given the current global climate and health challenges, sustainability and cost-effectiveness are becoming unavoidable factors that must be considered in the development of new synthetic methodologies. In a recent publication, Kavtheet al.(R. D. Kavthe, K. S. Iyer, J. C. Caravez and B. H. Lipshutz,Chem. Sci., 2023,14, 6399,https://doi.org/10.1039/D3SC01699D) have succinctly demonstrated how employing more sustainable methodology can vastly reduce the environmental impact associated with the synthesis of the antimalarial drug candidate MMV688533. The most notable feature of this newly reported synthetic route is the application of aqueous micellar conditions to two Sonogashira coupling reactions that simultaneously improve the yield, catalyst loading and sustainability of these key steps.