US firm Fluorous Technologies has signed a licensing agreement with Sweden's Personal Chemistry covering the use of palladium catalysts in microwave reactors to dramatically reduce chemical synthesis times.

The licensed patent, held by Personal Chemistry , covers new means for performing Heck, Stille and Suzuki reactions catalysed by palladium (except Pd/C), utilising microwave energy.

Fluorous said in a statement that it has demonstrated that its FluoroFlash reagents can be used in rapid microwave synthesis followed by fluorous purification, with the desired organic product easily and quickly isolated by use of FluoroFlash silica gel cartridges. Combining the two technologies shortens the total process time from synthesis idea to compound-in-hand from several hours to minutes.

Philip Yeske, president and CEO of Fluorous, said: "We see tremendous potential for the combination of fluorous chemistry and microwave technology. Through this agreement with Personal Chemistry we can now broadly market our latest products, including fluorous ligands and palladium catalysts. The license acquisition is a necessary and natural part of our strategy to further broaden our technology portfolio."