Effect of the Ferrocene Nucleus on the Microwave-Accelerated Esterification Reaction

Microwave irradiation has been utilized in the syntheses of a wide variety of organic compounds due to its shorter reaction times and improved selectivities. Since ferrocene is an organometallic compound consisting of an iron center sandwiched between two cyclopentadienyl rings, the iron moiety was expected to efficiently absorb microwave irradiation, thereby resulting in the ferrocene molecules exhibiting an antenna effect. Thus, we herein confirmed this antenna effect by employing an esterification reaction as a model reaction, using both ferrocene and benzene derivatives under microwave irradiation and conventional heating conditions for comparison purposes. It was also found that the reaction could be carried out at lower temperature using ferrocene derivatives.