This book looks back on thirty-five years of microwave (MW)chemistry and explains how the application of the MW technique became anintegral part of R&D, eventually becoming recognized in industry. Further,it details how MW chemistry has undergone a dynamic development in the pastthree decades, one driven by the advent of increasingly sophisticatedprofessional MW reactors in place of the kitchen MW ovens used in earlieryears. 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 beperformed advantageously under MW irradiation, as the reaction times areshorter, while the selectivity and yields are higher; it also explains why inmost cases, the reactions can be performed under solvent-free conditions. MWirradiation within the sphere of organophosphorus chemistry is showcased andtypical reactions, such as the direct derivatization of phosphinic acids,alkylating esterifications, Diels–Alder reactions, the inverse Wittig-typereaction, fragmentations, the Arbuzov reaction, the synthesis ofα-hydroxyphosphonates and α-aminophosphonates (the Kabachnik–Fieldscondensation), deoxygenations and P–C coupling reactions are described under MWconditions. In closing, the advantages of MW chemistry such as faster reactionsand the possibility of simplifying the catalytic systems are addressed.
