This book looks back on thirty-five years of microwave (MW)chemistry and explains how the application of the MW technique became anintegral part of R&D, eventually becoming recognized in industry. Further,it details how MW chemistry has undergone a dynamic development in the pastthree decades, one driven by the advent of increasingly sophisticatedprofessional MW reactors in place of the kitchen MW ovens used in earlieryears. A major part of the book shows how substitutions, esterifications,amidations, hydrolyses, alkylations, eliminations, dehydrations, condensations,cyclizations, C-C couplings and the modification of heterocycles can beperformed advantageously under MW irradiation, as the reaction times areshorter, while the selectivity and yields are higher; it also explains why inmost cases, the reactions can be performed under solvent-free conditions. MWirradiation within the sphere of organophosphorus chemistry is showcased andtypical reactions, such as the direct derivatization of phosphinic acids,alkylating esterifications, Diels-Alder reactions, the inverse Wittig-typereaction, fragmentations, the Arbuzov reaction, the synthesis ofα-hydroxyphosphonates and α-aminophosphonates (the Kabachnik-Fieldscondensation), deoxygenations and P-C coupling reactions are described under MWconditions. In closing, the advantages of MW chemistry such as faster reactionsand the possibility of simplifying the catalytic systems are addressed.