Abstract
Abstract
A common theme throughout drug discovery and process development is speed. With the emergence of combinatorial chemistry and high-speed parallel synthesis, multicomponent reactions (MCRs) have seen a resurgence of interest. MCRs are therefore becoming increasingly popular since they provide the possibility to introduce a large degree of chemical diversity in only one step! Microwave irradiation under controlled conditions has been shown to be an invaluable technology since it often allows to dramatically reduce reaction times from days or hours to minutes or even seconds. Compound libraries can be rapidly synthesized in either a parallel or sequential way using this new, enabling technology. The current chapter highlights the application of microwave irradiation for MCRs during the last 4 years. More than 110 recent literature reports have been covered.
Graphical Abstract
In the manner that very important research is often performed by multidisciplinary research teams, the applications of multicomponent reactions involving the combination of multiple starting materials with different functional groups leading to the higher efficiency and environmentally friendly construction of multifunctional/complex target molecules is growing in importance. This review will explore the advances and advantages in microwave multicomponent synthesis (MMS) that have been achieved over the last five years.
Keywords: one-pot reactions; synthetic methods; microwave technology; multicomponent reactions
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