Ahhhhhhhh, Doug Taber

From the letters to the editor page of this week's C&EN:

Possible special thermal effects of microwave irradiation are still actively debated (C&EN, Jan. 27, page 26). Paramjit S. Arora and Ross N. Chapman of New York University observed that the Ru-mediated ring-closing metathesis of an oligopeptide was sluggish with oil-bath heating—taking hours. But it proceeded rapidly—that is, in two to five minutes—with microwave heating (Org. Lett. 2006, DOI:10.1021/ol062443z). Could cis-trans amide flip be directly stimulated by microwaves? 

Douglass F. Taber
Philadelphia

It'll be interesting to see if Kappe decides to respond to this.