Abstract
The area of chemical research and synthesis increasingly recognises the need for improved technologies and methods, which involves chemical processes with less energy consumption, time savings, reduction and/or minimisation of waste, simple processes and an overall clean production. Microwave heating has been exploited in a variety of disciplines for many useful applications and organic synthesis is an area, which has benefited significantly over the past decade. The present study investigates organic reactions accelerated under microwave irradiations. In particular, the study involves use of recyclable Polymer and Inorganic Solid Supported Reagents for application in transfer hydrogenation. Reductions of electron deficient alkenes have been studied using polymer and inorganic solid supported formates. Microwave irradiations have been used to study transfer hydrogenations in presence of Wilkinson's catalyst [RhCl(PPh3)3]. The application of the Polymer Supported Reagents (PSR) has been investigated for studying transfer hydrogenation in N-benzyl deprotections. Microwave assisted synthesis of formamides from primary and secondary amines have been studied using supported formates. Microwave irradiations have also been applied in studying heterocycle synthesis by cycloaddition of nitrones with Pt (II) and Pd(II) bound organonitriles. The study broadly demonstrates a means of simplifying reaction procedures and purification along with reduction in waste of reagents and release of toxic residues. More importantly, use of microwave irradiations has been used to substantially improve the reaction yields and reduce reaction times, lower energy consumption and solvent volumes. The use of this methodology significantly benefits in the development of "Green Chemistry" and automated systems for chemical synthesis in many industrial sectors.