Date of Award


Degree Type


Degree Name

Honors Thesis




One of the central dogmas of chemistry is the use of convection heating to increase rate and yields of reactions. However, other methods for the impartation of energy do exist. Microwave irradiation uses high power waves to directly excite molecule into higher energy states. This speeds up the kinetics of the reaction and thermodynamically favorable products are formed at a higher rate. This project successfully uses microwave irradiation to perform organometallic syntheses of iron based compounds such as ferrocene and iron diene tricarbonyls. Another alternative method involves using mechanical energy as a substitute for thermal energy. By rapidly colliding reactants together in the solid state, energy barriers can be overcome without increasing the temperature of the reaction. This project uses a technique known as high speed ball milling increase the formation of allylic alcohols through the Baylis-Hillman reaction.