Microwave-assisted cycloaddition reactions

Cycloaddition reactions belong to one of the most well-investigated and widely used reactions in synthetic organic chemistry for the construction of (hetero) cyclic compounds in a single-step operation. In this tutorial review, a select number of examples of some [3 + 2] cycloadditions, i.e. for 1,2,3-triazole formation, as well as of some [4 + 2] and [2 + 2] cycloadditions are reviewed, where it has been proven that the application of microwave irradiation has a profound influence on the outcome of the reaction.