Microwave-assisted Carbon-carbon and Carbon-heteroatom Cross-coupling Reactions in Organic Synthesis

Conventionally, the organic reactions are accomplished by conductive heating with an external heat source like an oil bath. On the contrary, since its inception, the application of microwave irradiation is growing as a suitable alternate heating method in organic synthesis. Microwave heating considerably reduces the reaction time without promoting any side reactions. The fundamental synthetic organic chemistry majorly deals with transition-metal-catalyzed C–C and C–heteroatom bond formation reactions. It is one of the most important methods in contemporary chemistry resulting in a tremendous increment in the applications of these reactions during the last few years. This field has been acknowledged with a number of Nobel Prizes during the last decade (2001, 2005 and 2010). A considerable effort has been done on the continuous development of new ligands and catalysts as well as an increased understanding of the mechanisms for the improvement of the reaction condition. This review focuses on some of the latest developments in the area of cross-coupling reactions aided by microwave irradiation.