The undergraduate laboratory is an ideal environment to train the chemists of tomorrow.  By early introduction of instrumentation such as microwave reactors, students are taught to embrace ideas on the cutting edge of chemistry, making them prepared for the technology of the future.  Microwave reactions are carried out in a safe, fast, and efficient manner, free from the dangers associated with Bunsen burners and oil baths.  Additionally, microwave chemistry allows the use of �greener� solvents; replacing dimethylformamide and methylene chloride with ionic liquids and ethyl acetate prepares students for safety oriented work environments.  The use of microwaves has expanded in organic chemistry labs and with this use comes demand for general and inorganic chemistry teaching manuals.  This presentation will focus on a sampling of experiments from our published manual as well as those currently under development by our research team to make microwave chemistry more accessible to undergraduate teaching labs.

Expanding the scope of microwave chemistry in undergraduate teaching labs

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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