Mechanochemistry as an emerging tool for molecular synthesis: what can it offer?

TL;DR: Mechanochemistry is becoming more widespread as a technique for molecular synthesis with new mechanochemical reactions being discovered at increasing frequency, and what more it can offer, aside from the clear benefit of reduced solvent consumption.

Abstract: Mechanochemistry is becoming more widespread as a technique for molecular synthesis with new mechanochemical reactions being discovered at increasing frequency. Whilst mechanochemical methods are solvent free and can therefore lead to improved sustainability metrics, it is more likely that the significant differences between reaction outcomes, reaction selectivities and reduced reaction times will make it a technique of interest to synthetic chemists. Herein, we provide an overview of mechanochemistry reaction examples, with ‘direct’ comparators to solvent based reactions, which collectively seemingly show that solid state grinding can lead to reduced reaction times, different reaction outcomes in product selectivity and in some instances different reaction products, including products not accessible in solution.