My Twenty Years in Microwave Chemistry: From Kitchen Ovens to Microwaves that aren't Microwaves

• Published in: Chemical record Vol. 19; no. 1; pp. 15 - 39
• Main Author: Kappe, C. Oliver
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.01.2019; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Chemistry; continuous flow chemistry; Innovations; microwave chemistry; microwave effects; Microwaves; multimode cavity; Organic chemistry; Ovens; Personal Account; Personal Accounts; single-mode cavity; single-mode cavity; multimode cavity; microwave chemistry; continuous flow chemistry; microwave effects
• ISSN: 1527-8999; 1528-0691; 1528-0691
• DOI: 10.1002/tcr.201800045

This Personal Account describes the author's involvement in the field of microwave‐assisted organic synthesis (MAOS) from the late 1990’s starting out with kitchen microwave ovens right through to the development of a reactor in 2016 that – although not using microwave technology – in many ways mimics the performance of a modern laboratory microwave. The reader is taken along a journey that has spanned two decades of intense research on various aspects of microwave chemistry, and, at the same time, was intimately linked to key innovations regarding equipment design and development. A “behind the scenes” approach is taken in this article to share – from a very personal point of view – how specific projects and research ideas were conceived and developed in my research group, and how in general the field of microwave chemistry has progressed in the last two decades. Microwave chemistry has turned from laboratory curiosity to an accepted technology in the past three decades. While dedicated instrumentation was rather expensive in the early days, current equipment runs at significantly below 10.000 €. This account details advancements in equipment design and development and describes the author's involvement in the field of microwave‐assisted organic synthesis since 1998.