Microwave athermal effects in chemistry: A myth's autopsy .1. Historical background and fundamentals of wave-matter interaction.

The purpose of this paper is to enlighten by a theoretical analysis the controversial question of athermal, specific or molecular effects of microwave heating claimed in chemistry. In this Part I, thermodynamic considerations relating to transition state theories are reviewed. The different assumptions of specific effects claimed in chemistry are examined, and a brief overview of biological effects of electromagnetic irradiation are reported. Chemical experiments which claim athermal effects then are analyzed. Finally, fundamentals of wave matter interaction are given.