Abstract: The introduction of microwave irradiation in organic synthesis has revolutionized traditional synthetic chemistry by enhancing efficiency, reducing reaction times, lowering costs, improving selectivity, increasing safety, and promoting sustainability. Consequently, micro-wave technology has become indispensable in diverse fields, including the synthesis of peptides, biologically active heterocycles, industrially valuable organic compounds, polymers, and mate-rials science. The use of microwave heating has significantly advanced the synthesis of biolog-ically relevant organic sulfides/thioethers and disulfides compared to conventional synthetic routes. These methods offer shorter reaction times, excellent yields, simple work-up procedures, and the use of green solvents or solvent-free and metal-free reaction conditions, making them more attractive from a green chemistry perspective. Moreover, microwave heating simplifies the solid-phase synthesis of disulfide-rich peptides, making it more viable, selective, and cost-effective. Notably, substantial progress has been made over the past two decades in synthesizing small molecules of both symmetrical and unsymmetrical organic sulfides and disulfides, includ-ing disulfide-containing therapeutic peptides, under microwave irradiation. This review pro-vides an overview of recent advancements in the microwave-assisted synthesis of a wide variety of bioactive diaryl and aryl–alkyl sulfides and disulfides, including a disulfide-bridged cyclo-heptapeptide, along with critical discussions where necessary.
Roy et al. (Fri,) studied this question.