Accelerated syntheses of amine-bis(phenol) ligands in polyethylene glycol or “on water” under microwave irradiation

Pure amine-bis(phenol) ligands are readily accessible in high yield, often >90%, when the Mannich condensation reactions are performed “on water” or in poly(ethyleneglycol) (PEG). Microwave-assisted synthesis dramatically reduces the time and energy required to prepare these molecules, typically from 24 h to 5 min. The approach seems to be widely applicable (7 amines and 5 phenols were tested to yield a diverse set of bis(phenol) ligands). Significant improvements in yield were observed for ligands derived from di-tert-amyl and di-tert-butyl phenols, possibly resulting from a hydrophobic effect. Single crystal X-ray diffraction data for the ligand derived from p-cresol and N,N′-dimethylethylenediamine is reported