Reaction of aniline and its derivatives with formic acid without solvent in the presence of microwaves as a teaching experiment - the effect of a substituent in the aniline molecule
Abstract
In the chemistry education it is appropriate to draw attention to the variety of methods used in the synthesis of organic compounds. One such example is solvent-free reactions in the presence of microwaves.
In this context, we focused on the synthesis of amides. One aspect of the teaching experiments was the influence of the structure of the reactants on the course of the reaction and its yield.
In our case, we focused on the presentation of the effect of the structure of aniline and its derivates for the course of the reaction with formic acid. The results of the experiments show that the yield of the reaction increases with increasing amine basicity in the series: 4-nitroaniline < 4-chloroaniline < aniline < 4-methyloxyaniline as expected.
A set of reactions performed in a commercial microwave oven is designed for practical exercises at universities, educating future teachers and in workshops for those interested in high school students.