Complete, efficient and "green" microwave assisted preparation of organoclays: Synthesis of the organic fillers and their intercalation procedure

Organoclays are organic-inorganic hybrid systems, which find a wide range of application in several industrial fields. In pursuing a Green Chemistry approach to synthetic routes coupling microwave (MW) activation to chemical processes, in this work we focused our research efforts on the MW assisted preparation of new organoclays interesting for peculiar cosmetic and pharmaceutical applications. MW heating was successfully applied to both the solventless synthetic protocol of the appropriate organic fillers (quaternary ammonium salts) and to their hydrothermal intercalation in a smectite clay structure. The organic compounds were obtained in excellent yield under mild conditions and their complete intercalation was fast achieved as confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD). Advantages of the microwave-mediated procedure over conventional preparative pathways in terms of "greenness" and the potential applications of the investigated systems are reported.