Microwave-assisted Suzuki reactions in a continuous flow capillary reactor

Suzuki cross-coupling reaction of aryl halides with phenylboronic acid to form biaryls has been used to illustrate the development of a microwave-based technique capable of delivering heat locally to a solid Pd-supported catalyst located within a continuous flow capillary reactor. The strong inherent absorption of a thin layer of gold metal on the outside surface of the capillary enabled effective heating to be carried out in the region of the catalyst, enhancing the rate of reaction to give product yields greater than 70% with catalyst/reactant contact times of less than 60 s using a hydrodynamically pumped system. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.