Résumé
The Willgerodt-Kindler reaction was applied to a series of aromatic aldehydes and ketones. The reactions were performed in a dipolar aprotic solvent (mainly DMF) in the presence of a base catalyst (4-methylmorpholine) and utilized microwave (mw) irradiation. The pulsed mw technique rather than the continuous irradiation was preferred because it limited side reactions and hydrogen sulfide production. While not always superior to the thermal activation of the reaction, the procedure involving repetitive short pulses of microwave irradiation was found to be faster and result in consistently cleaner products. The technique can be easily applied in a fast parallel synthesis process.