Molecules 2014, 19, 6220-6227; doi:10.3390/molecules19056220 molecules ISSN 1420-3049 www.mdpi.com/journal/molecules Article n-Butyl Cyanoacrylate Synthesis. A New Quality Step Using Microwaves Yaquelin Ramos Carriles 1, *, Rubén Álvarez Brito 1 , Ricardo Martínez Sánchez 2 , Elayma Sánchez Acevedo 1 , Paola Rodríguez Domínguez 1 and Wolf-Dieter Mueller 3 1 Chemistry-Physics Department, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Havana, Zapata and G, Vedado, Havana 10400, Cuba; E-Mails: ruben@fq.uh.cu (R.Á.B.); elayma_sanchez@fq.uh.cu (E.S.A.); paola_rodriguez@fq.uh.cu (P.R.D.) 2 Polymers Laboratory, IMRE, University of Havana, Zapata and G, Vedado, Havana 10400, Cuba; E-Mail: ricardo@imre.oc.uh.cu 3 Charité-Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Assmannshauser Str.4-6, Berlin 14197, Germany; E-Mail: Wolf-Dieter.Mueller@charite.de * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: yaquelin@fq.uh.cu; Tel.: +537-878-0684; Fax: +537-837-5774. Received: 4 April 2014; in revised form: 5 May 2014 / Accepted: 13 May 2014 / Published: 15 May 2014 Abstract: Alkyl cyanoacrylates are interesting products for use in industry because of their properties enabling them to stick together a wide range of substrates. n-Butyl cyanoacrylate is one of the most successfully used tissue adhesives in the field of medicine because it exhibits bacteriostatic and haemostatic characteristics, in addition to its adhesive properties. At present, its synthesis is performed with good yields via Knoevenagel condensation using conventional sources of heating, but this requires a long processing time. The aim of this work was to look for a new way of synthesising n-butyl cyanoacrylate using microwave irradiation as the source of heating. This non-conventional source of heating most likely reduces the process time of the synthesis. In comparison with a conventional heating source, such as an oil bath, the results showed the advantages of this method whereby the n-butyl cyanoacrylate gave the same yield and quality with a reduction in the reaction time by a factor of 3-5-fold. Keywords: n-butyl cyanoacrylate; poly (n-butyl cyanoacrylate); microwaves irradiation OPEN ACCESS