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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 1997  > October  >
In the Laboratory
Microwave Assisted Wolff-Kishner Reduction Reaction
Eric Parquet and Qun Lin
Xavier University of Louisiana, Department of Chemistry, New Orleans, LA 70125
Cover
October 1997
Vol. 74 No. 10
p. 1225
Abstract
A Wolff-Kishner reduction of a carbonyl group was carried out in a household microwave oven. Isatin was first converted to the hydrazone with 55% hydrazine and ethylene glycol by irradiation in the microwave oven at medium power for 30 seconds. Then, isatin 3-hydrazone was mixed with ethylene glycol and potassium hydroxide and irradiated in the microwave oven for only 10 seconds. After simple work-up and recrystallization, oxindole was obtained in a yield of 32.4%. The two step syntheses described here offer several advantages: (1) very short reaction time with no need for special microscale glassware, (2) mild experimental conditions (hot oil baths and heating mantles are not required), (3) the reagents are easy to handle (students do not need to prepare sodium ethoxide from sodium metal and absolute ethanol).
More Information
*  Citation
 Parquet, Eric; Lin, Qun. J. Chem. Educ. 1997 74 1225.
*  Keywords
 Laboratory, Organic Chemistry, Chemical Education Research, Microscale, and Organic Synthesis
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 July 27, 1999
June 23, 2005
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