Accelerated imidization reactions using microwave radiation

Microwave radiation has been clearly shown to result in enhancement of the rate of reaction for an imidization reaction. Analysis of the kinetic parameters showed that the apparent activation energy for the reaction was reduced from 105 to 55 kJ/mol, under the conditions of this experiment. The mechanism which has been proposed to explain this enhancement is based on the concept of a nonuniform temperature on a molecular scale, rather than a true reduction in the activation energy. © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Copyright © 1992 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.