Josè Starvaggi, Roberta Ettari
The name Green Chemistry was coined in 1996 to point out the development of chemical substances and sustainable processes that reduce the formation of toxic products for the environment and humans. The urgent need to bring down the negative effects of the chemical industry to safeguard human health has been the driving force behind green chemistry and the need to respect the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This approach allows to increase the effectiveness of synthetic methods, to develop safer, less toxic, and environmentally sustainable chemicals. In this context, microwave-assisted organic reactions revolutionized the chemical synthesis; as a matter of fact, microwave chemistry led to a low environmental impact of the used solvents, and, over the years this overture has become the method of choice in synthetic chemistry. This review highlights in detail the main features of microwaves.