Novel Surfactant Catalyst Under Microwave Irradiation

Microwave organic chemistry is a green chemical method that improves reaction conditions and product yields, while reducing solvent amounts and reaction times. Although microwave syntheses can decrease the amount of harmful pollutants, little attention has focus on the search for novel eco-friendly catalysts used in microwave reactions. Surface active agents, also called surfactants, are amphiphilic molecules that have the ability to be both catalytic and biodegradable making them an eco-friendly alternative to harmful catalyst commonly used. Although surfactants have been used as catalysts in conventional reactions, no literature has been cited which uses catalytic surfactants in microwave organic synthesis.