Microwave Irradiation and Multicomponent Reactions

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.