Microreactor Technology as an Efficient Tool for Multicomponent Reactions

Multicomponent reactions are an important tool in organic synthesis as they often allow the circumvention of multistep procedures by combining three or more molecules into one structure in a single step. An additional asset of the approach is the significant increase of the combinatorial possibilities, since a modification of the final product is easily accomplished by implementing minor changes in the reaction setup; this obviously allows considerable savings in time and resources. These advantages are of particular interest in pharmaceutical research for the construction of libraries. In order to increase the sustainability of chemical processes, the field is intensively explored, and novel reactions are frequently reported. Microreactor technology also offers a contemporary way of conducting chemical reactions in a more sustainable fashion due to the miniaturization and increased safety, and also in a technically improved manner due to intensified process efficiency. This relatively new technology is implemented in novel and improved applications and is getting more and more used in chemical research. The combination of the benefits from the two approaches clearly presents an attractive reaction design, and this chapter presents an overview of the reported examples in which the microreactor technology and the multicomponent approach are combined, usually with dramatically improved results compared to those previously reported.

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