Microwave Thermal Effect on Diels-Alder Reaction of Furan and Maleimide

Background: Higher temperature regions (hot spots) have been observed in organic reactions and are attributed to microwave selective heating. The accumulated heat in reaction systems accelerates certain reactions. Methods: The theoretical calculation was applied to select a suitable Diels-Alder reaction as a molecular probe to determine the microwave thermal effect on Diels-Alder reaction, one class of bimolecular reactions. The kinetic investigations were utilized to determine the reaction activation energies and further to calculate the actual reaction temperatures under different microwave conditions from the Arrhenius equation. Results: On the basis of the theoretical calculational results, Diels-Alder reaction of furan and maleimide was selected as a molecular probe to determine the microwave thermal effect in Diels-Alder reaction. Their activation energies under thermal conditions were determined from kinetic data by using the Arrhenius equation. The actual reaction temperatures under different microwave conditions were further deduced from their activation energies and the Arrhenius equation. Conclusion: Higher temperature regions (hot spots) were observed in Diels-Alder reaction, and they are more obvious in less polar solvents than those in more polar solvents in the microwave irradiated reactions.