Book excerpt: The first reports on the application of microwaves in organicsynthesis date back to 1986, but it was not until the recentintroduction of specifically designed and constructed equipment,which countered the safety and reproducibility concerns, thatsynthetic application of microwaves has become established as alaboratory technique. Microwave assisted synthesis is now beingadopted in many industrial and academic laboratories to takeadvantage of the novel chemistry that can be carried out using avariety of organic reaction types. This book demonstrates the underlying principles of microwavedielectric heating and, by reference to a range of organic reactiontypes, it's effective use in synthetic organic chemistry. Toillustrate the impact microwave assisted organic synthesis can haveon chemical research, case studies drawn mainly from thepharmaceutical industry are presented.