Towards the rehabilitation of the Mathews’ ‘dry’ hydrolysis reaction using microwave technology

The Mathews’ reaction is a one-pot preparation of carboxylic acids from their corresponding nitriles or amides by a ‘dry’ hydrolysis with phthalic acid or anhydride in the absence of water and solvent. Excellent isolated yields and selectivity (up to 99%) were attained within short reaction times (typically, 30 minutes) when the reaction was performed under microwave heating.