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Microwave-assisted synthesis can also improve combinatorial productivity. Using a laboratory microwave oven, "reactions that took days can be done in minutes, usually with higher yields and potentially easier work-ups. "The days of the old oil bath"--a traditional lab apparatus for heating reactions--"are behind us." Authors conducted an experiment to determine the time that can be saved by using microwave oven heating in combinatorial synthesis. One scientist used a microwave system to develop a combinatorial library, and another used conventional thermal heating. The two scientists were not permitted to communicate on methods and results. The goal of the experiment was the generation of three diverse library compounds with a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometric (LC-MS) purity exceeding 85%.
It took 37 days to develop the library thermally and two days to develop it with the microwave oven--about an 18-fold productivity increase. Authors calculated the return-on-investment time (break-even point) for adopting microwave synthesis to be 5.8 months
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