ALDERSHOFER KOLLOQUIUM Analytik: Once upon a time in the land of mechanochemistry….

Once upon a time in the land of mechanochemistry….
Dr. Frédéric Lamaty, Directeur de Recherches CNRS
Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France

Chair: Dr. Franziska Emmerling, BAM

A major concern for the development of a sustainable chemical synthesis is the use of organic solvents. These solvents are very often toxic and volatile, the halogenated ones creating major damages to the environment. One of the solutions so far has been to treat and recycle the solvents or to use them as fuel after employing them in a chemical process. A major research effort is now being made to find alternatives to the use of these organic solvents. The challenging approach that we have chosen is to develop reactions in the absence of solvent by mechanochemistry. 1

Mechanochemical activation can be a useful tool for solvent-free organic synthesis. Designed at the beginning for crushing inorganic matter, apparatus such as ball-mills proved their efficacy in some organic chemistry reactions and can be applied on an industrial scale. We have shown that this kind of activation is applicable to the preparation of various types of organic 2 and organometallic molecules.1d, 3 This technique in addition to implementing a more sustainable synthetic approach, may also accelerate the reactions and contribute to the facilitated
preparation of original molecules. As Christmas time is getting closer, this will be the occasion to tell a few stories chosen from our book “Tales of Mechanochemistry”.

1 For recent reviews : a. Hernandez, J. G.; Bolm, C. J. Org. Chem. 2017, 82, 4007-4019. b. Tan, D.; Friscic, T.
Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2018, 18-33. c. Andersen, J.; Mack, J. Green Chem. 2018, 20, 1435-1443. d. Beillard, A.;
Bantreil, X.; Métro, T.-X.; Martinez, J.; Lamaty, F. Chem. Rev. 2019, 119, 7529-7609.
2 a. Declerck, V.; Nun, P.; Martinez, J.; Lamaty, F. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2009, 48, 9318-9321. b. Bonnamour,
J.; Métro, T.-X.; Martinez, J.; Lamaty, F. Green Chem. 2013, 15, 1116-1120. c. Yeboue, Y.; Gallard, B.;
Le Moigne, N.; Jean, M.; Lamaty, F.; Martinez, J.; Métro, T.-X. ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2018, 6, 16001-
16004.
3 a. Beillard, A.; Métro, T.-X.; Bantreil, X.; Martinez, J.; Lamaty, F. Chem. Sci. 2017, 8, 1086-1089. b. Pétry,
N.; Vanderbeeken, T.; Malher, A.; Bringer, Y.; Bantreil, X.; Lamaty, F. Chem. Commun. 2019, 55, 9495-
9498.