Mechanochemistry

The scientific community’s general interest in using mechanical energy to trigger or facilitate chemical reactivity has been growing at a speedy pace. In particular, in recent years, organic chemistry has witnessed a constant flow of examples where the use of mechanochemical techniques proved not only to outperform traditional solution-based methodologies, but also enabled access to otherwise impossible chemical reactivity in many cases. From a green chemistry perspective, mechanochemical activation conducted by milling, shearing, pulling or ultrasonic irradiation allows for the possibility to drastically reduce the amount of solvent needed during chemical reactions, even to the point of achieving chemical reactivity under solvent-free conditions. Additionally, the utilization of mechanochemical technology can often further simplify the posterior work-up procedures, having a deeper impact on the sustainability of the global synthetic process (reduction of waste, lower energy consumption, absence of external heating, fast reactivity, etc.).