Cold microwave chemistry: synthesis using pre-cooled reagents

A novel experimental procedure for chemical reactions has been devised that involves mixing and then freezing the reagents (organic solvent-free) to a sub-zero temperature such as −30 °C. This frozen mixture is exposed to microwave irradiation for a brief period of time. The use of pre-cooled reagents may give a single product not obtained by traditional microwave irradiation at room temperature. Interestingly, such a product may provide information about mechanisms by identifying the first step of a multiple step reaction.