Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is a strong base used universally as a neutralization agent in the chemical industry, paper making, petroleum refining, cleaning compounds, and drain cleaners.

Sodium hydroxide can be used as:

A reagent in the gold-catalyzed selective oxidation of glycerol to glyceric acid.

A catalyst for the cross-dehydrogenative coupling of alcohols and hydrosilanes to synthesize silyl ethers.

A base in the transition-metal free Sonogashira-type couplings of aryl halides and alkynes to synthesize ynones in the presence of PEG as a phase-transfer agent.