Mechanochemistry in Organic Synthesis: An Italian Journey through Innovations

Mechanochemistry, as an enabling technology, harnesses mechanical force to drive chemical reactions, presenting compelling advantages in organic synthesis within the principles of green chemistry. This review explores how its unique advantages and alignment with sustainable practices have been widely developed in different scientific fields in Italy. As a transformative strategy for organic synthesis, mechanochemistry has been portrayed in this review as a valuable synthetic alternative due to the various advantages, such as solvent reduction and new reaction pathways, that its use brings. Nonetheless, the improvements brought about by its use have also been crucial in other fields of chemistry described by Italian scientists. In this whole context, Italian researchers have analysed both already optimised processes and new feasible pathways, paving the way for new avenues previously hampered by all the limitations that belong to in-solution chemistry. The contribution of Italy to the development of mechanochemistry dates back to 1988 with the first studies on metal alloys. With the progress of time, it has flourished not only in the field of organic chemistry, but also in other scientific fields due to the enormous interest of Italian researchers in the various advantages brought by this technique. image