Diels–Alder Reaction Using a Solar Irradiation Heat Source Designed for Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Laboratories

Recently proposed solar reflectors developed from satellite dishes have the ability to be incorporated into student laboratory procedures to eliminate electricity use while demonstrating green chemistry techniques at the same time. There have been recent attempts to make chemical synthesis procedures more environmentally friendly. As a result, demand to incorporate more green chemistry techniques into student laboratories has increased. Electricity use is one area of environmental concern because fossil fuels are used for the majority of electrical energy in the United States. An effective means for minimizing the amount of electricity needed to drive chemical reactions to completion is proposed through the use of solar parabolic reflectors. A comparative study is conducted using an electrical and solar heat source on the Diels–Alder cycloaddition reaction of maleic anhydride and anthracene. This reaction is chosen as the test reaction due to its widespread use among many undergraduate chemistry programs. Analysis of the products is performed by NMR spectroscopy.