Watch Your Microwave Reactions Being Processed

Microwave heating drastically speeds up synthesis procedures and provides convenient and simple handling. However, since the reaction vials virtually disappear inside the microwave reactor’s cavity one common feature is missing: for the duration of the experiment the setup is like a black box, chemists can no longer watch their reactions as it was the usual practice in the past. The result can only be seen when the vessel is removed from the cavity after the run. With an integrated camera as a new optional accessory, Anton Paar provides a convenient solution for the Monowave 300 microwave synthesis reactor.

Although microwave reactions are usually short, there are situations in which watching the reaction progress might be informative and beneficial in order to avoid misinterpretation of the results:
• Observe the reaction progress
• Check whether substrates are completely dissolved
• Verify the stirring speed and efficiency
• See color changes
• Watch precipitation

Direct observation helps to further optimize the reaction protocol since Monowave 300 allows changing relevant reaction parameters during the run.

The optional camera can be directly integrated in the instrument and future upgrade of units already in the field is also possible. Real-time observation of the reactions, recording video sequences or taking single pictures is easily possible on a laptop independent of the microwave reactor.

Upgrading a microwave reactor with a camera further extends the application range of these convenient synthesis instruments. With this beneficial tool for optical observation the quality of method development and optimization can be additionally improved since the reaction progress in the microwave cavity is no longer hidden from the operator’s eye.