Milestones in Microwave Chemistry

This book looks back on thirty-five years of microwave (MW)§chemistry and explains how the application of the MW technique became an§integral part of R&D, eventually becoming recognized in industry. Further,§it details how MW chemistry has undergone a dynamic development in the past§three decades, one driven by the advent of increasingly sophisticated§professional MW reactors in place of the kitchen MW ovens used in earlier§years. A major part of the book shows how substitutions, esterifications,§amidations, hydrolyses, alkylations, eliminations, dehydrations, condensations,§cyclizations, C-C couplings and the modification of heterocycles can be§performed advantageously under MW irradiation, as the reaction times are§shorter, while the selectivity and yields are higher; it also explains why in§most cases, the reactions can be performed under solvent-free conditions. MW§irradiation within the sphere of organophosphorus chemistry is showcased and§typical reactions, such as the direct derivatization of phosphinic acids,§alkylating esterifications, Diels-Alder reactions, the inverse Wittig-type§reaction, fragmentations, the Arbuzov reaction, the synthesis of§_-hydroxyphosphonates and _-aminophosphonates (the Kabachnik-Fields§condensation), deoxygenations and P-C coupling reactions are described under MW§conditions. In closing, the advantages of MW chemistry such as faster reactions§and the possibility of simplifying the catalytic systems are addressed.§