Microwave catalysis revisited: an analytical solution.

In our previous work [Bren, U., et al. J. Phys. Chem. A 2008, 112, 166] we proposed a novel physical mechanism for microwave catalysis based on rotationally hot reactive species and verified its validity through a Monte Carlo simulation of a realistic chemical reaction: neutral ester hydrolysis. This article represents a continuation of our ongoing effort toward quantitative understanding of the microwave catalytic effect. It provides a derivation of an analytical solution for the microwave catalysis. The obtained expression is compared with the results of the Monte Carlo simulation and is applied to reproduce the microwave catalytic effect experimentally observed in the polyethylene terephthalate solvolysis. Implications for the interactions of microwaves with living organisms in the context of widespread mobile telephony are also discussed.