The Retention Mechanism of Reactants on Graphite

Because amorphous carbon as graphite heats up strongly under MW irradiation [4], its use as a sensitizer has been widely reported [5-10] (Sect. 7.1). Recently, MW-as-sisted esterification of carboxylic acids with alcohols was performed on activated carbon in good yields (71-96%) [98]. For our part, when charcoal powder was used as a support, we had difficulty in desorbing the reaction products [15]. Even with a continuous extractor, the desorption was never quantitative. The desorption of reaction products from graphite powder is much easier than from amorphous carbon powder. 

Charcoals and various carbon blacks show great variability of their structure and properties as a function of the carbonaceous starting material and the preparation conditions [3, 11]. The graphitization of carbon, which is required to achieve a high corrosion resistance, lead to materials of more homogeneous structures and properties, allowing a good reproducibility of reactions. 

Therefore, graphite is preferable in a supported reaction, although the use of intercalated reagents remains possible. 

reactions involving chemical compounds which, as in the case of organic ones, have low dielectric loss and do not heat up sufficiently under MW irradiation. 

Its inert behavior towards numerous chemical compounds and its adsorbent properties (responsible for the retention of volatile or sublimable organic compounds), make graphite the choice support for thermal reactions. Among its impurities, magnetite was revealed to be an active catalyst, and some reactions can be performed without any added catalyst. Two processes are then possible, the graphite-supported reaction ( dry process), and the reaction in the presence of a small amount of graphite (solid-liquid medium). 

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