Activation and Deactivation of a Chemical Transformation by an Electromagnetic Field: Evidence for Specific Microwave Effects in the Formation of Grignard Reagents

Abstract

It's field density, not temperature! Modifying the electric field strength in a microwave experiment can completely change the outcome of a reaction. Whereas a low field strength in Grignard reagent formation from Mg metal and aryl halide leads to acceleration of the initiation step, using a high field strength at the same temperature suppresses Mg insertion, favoring solvent decomposition and passivation of the Mg metal (see scheme). Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as ”Supporting Information”. Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.