The first reports on the application of microwaves in organic synthesis date back to 1986, but it was not until the recent introduction of specifically designed and constructed equipment, which countered the safety and reproducibility concerns, that synthetic application of microwaves has become established as a laboratory technique. Microwave assisted synthesis is now being adopted in many industrial and academic laboratories to take advantage of the novel chemistry that can be carried out using a variety of organic reaction types.

This book demonstrates the underlying principles of microwave dielectric heating and, by reference to a range of organic reaction types, it’s effective use in synthetic organic chemistry. To illustrate the impact microwave assisted organic synthesis can have on chemical research, case studies drawn mainly from the pharmaceutical industry are presented.

Jason Tierney is a Team Leader in the High Throughput Chemistry Department at GlaxoSmithKline, Harlow, UK, and Pelle Lidström is Product Manager – Synthesis at Biotage AB, Uppsala, Sweden.