Hypothesis: Mixing of a chemical trigger of lower surface tension into a microdroplet with relatively higher surface tension can cause a rapid spreading of the droplet on a liquid-sublayer to form a host of metastable liquid morphologies such as sheets, toroids, threads, or droplets. Subsequently, such meta-stable fluidic objects break into a collection of droplets to form microemulsions. Experiments: Introduction of surfactant loaded water or long-chain alcohols into an oleic acid micro-droplet stimulate a rapid spreading of the same on a water sublayer, which helps in the formation of a metastable liquid sheet connected to a liquid toroid. Much like slipping films, the liquid sheet dewets the water underlayer through the formation of holes before they grow and coalesce to form liquid rib-bons. While such liquid structures eventually break into an array of microdroplets, the liquid toroid expands before undergoing a Plateau-Rayleigh instability to form microdroplets. Findings: A single step self-organization process in which a chemical trigger can convert a microdroplet into a liquid-toroid on a water surface, in absence of any rotational influence. A symmetric to asymmetric transition in toroid morphology is observed due to the changeover of laminar to turbulent flow regimes with the reduction in viscosity of fluid-sublayer or variation in chemical triggers. The toroid cross-section and droplet spacing after the toroid breakup follow a length scale evaluated from a linear stability analysis. (c) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.