Multicomponent reactions: A green tool in the hands of the synthetic chemist 

 

Multicomponent reactions (MCRs) are an effective way of reducing waste, solvent use, toxicity and costs because they involve the concomitant combination of three or more reactants in the same reaction pot.1-3  

If MCRs are performed in the presence of heterogeneous catalysts their environmentally benignity increases further. Moreover, it is also possible to insert the products of specific MCRs into other MCRs to form structurally complex products that may potentially have very high biological activity.