Another excellent and comprehensive annual ‘update’ review of the 2000 literature relating to protecting group (PG) strategies in organic synthesis has appeared this year. The employment of PGs to direct ‘docking’ at oxidative enzyme active sites thereby controlling subsequent hydroxylation of unactivated carbon atoms has also been overviewed. Moreover, a summary of the use of microwave (MW) he...

The increasing requirements for the environmental protection have resulted in the search for more effective, inexpensive and ecologically safe solutions. Zeolite is one of the alternatives, which due to their peculiar structure are widely used for various environmental processes. The demand for an easily accessible and inexpensive source of zeolite has raised interest in synthesis of these mine...

In May 1999, the European Space Agency (ESA) selected the Earth Explorer Opportunity Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission to obtain global and frequent soil moisture and ocean salinity maps. SMOS single payload is the Microwave Imaging Radiometer by Aperture Synthesis (MIRAS), an L-band two-dimensional aperture synthesis radiometer with multiangular observation capabilities. At L-ban...

Due to serious environmental problem and strict regulations to control pollution, researchers across the globe are putting their effort to find clean, renewable, greener and cost effective method to produce biochemical from biomass. The aim of this article was to highlight the method to extract phenolic compounds from crude pyrolysis oil using switchable hydrophilicity solvents (SHS). The pyrol...

In recent years, microwave processing of metal/alloy powders have gained a considerable potential in the field of material synthesis. Microwave heating is recognized for its various advantages, such as: time and energy saving, very rapid heating rates, considerably reduced processing cycle time and temperature, fine microstructures and improved mechanical properties, better product performance,...

This paper describes AMIRAS, an airborne demonstrator of the Microwave Imaging Radiometer with Aperture Synthesis, which is the instrument onboard ESA’s Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission. The main electrical, mechanical, thermal, and control elements of the demonstrator are shown, together with its capabilities and performances as demonstrator of the spaceborne instrument. AMIRAS ...

Microwave-assisted organic synthesis (MAOS) provides a novel and efficient means of achieving heat organic reactions. Nevertheless, the potential arcing phenomena via microwave (MW) interaction with solid metal catalysts has limited its use by organic chemists. As arcing phenomena are now better understood, new applications of Pd/C-catalyzed reactions under MW dielectric heating are now possibl...

A capillary-based flow system has been developed for conducting microscale organic synthesis with the aid of microwave irradiation. The capillary internal diameter investigated ranged from 200 to 1200 mum, while the flow rate was varied between 2 and 40 muL/min, which corresponds to the sample being irradiated approximately 4 min. Other parameters investigated include reaction concentration and...

Microwave assisted combustion synthesis is used for fast and controlled processing of advanced ceramics. Single phase and sinter active nano crystalline alpha alumina powders were successfully synthesized by different fuel-to-oxidant molar ratios using aluminium nitrate as an oxidiser, glycine as a reducing agents and millipore water as a solvent by microwave assisted combustion synthesis. Ther...

Lanthanide zirconate phases Ln(2)Zr(2)O(7) and Ln(4)Zr(3)O(12) (Ln = Y, La, Gd, Dy, Ho, Yb) have been prepared using a microwave induced plasma methodology, which allows rapid synthesis using materials which do not couple directly with microwaves at room temperature. We describe the measurement of heating profiles of the precursor binary metal oxides which can be used to identify conditions con...