MARS 6™ Synthesis

Parallel & Scale-Up Microwave Synthesizer

CEM Technology

Parallel Synthesis Made Easy

The MARS 6 Synthesis is a multi-mode microwave system that
provides parallel reaction processing, under uniform conditions. Conventional Heating Microwave Heating

18 1.75
The ability to run multiple reaction vessels simultaneously
is advantageous for large laboratories, as it only takes 30 vs
minutes to complete a set of 36 vessels. With the ability to
accommodate multiple pressurized vessels, or up to a 5 L open hours hours
flask, the MARS 6 Synthesis offers both high throughput for
larger labs and flexibility to run batch syntheses.

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Construction Software Safety Protocols Ease of Use

Steel Cavity Compliant Software Temperature Control Touch Screen

Solid steel cavity Software is 21 CFR The MARS 6 Synthesis 7-inch glass
construction, using Part 11 compliant for automatically limits the capacitance, high
industry leading 316 electronic records temperature to a safe definition display
stainless steel and signatures. range and adjusts provides onboard
for durability. as needed. control for method
programming and on-
demand training videos.

Spring Mounted Door Data Storage Reactiguard™ Flexible Vessel

A heavy-duty spring The 8 GB of storage The Reactiguard Configuration
mounted door that will provides more than cavity sensing device Perform a variety of
automatically relieve enough data storage automatically turns off reactions at a wide
any pressure from a for the lifetime of the system if a vessel range of scales
vessel event. the system. event occurs. using specialized
vessel sets.

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 Benefits

Intuitive Software

Simple, Fast
Reaction
Programming
Designed to make microwave synthesis virtually effortless,
the intuitive MARS 6 Synthesis software features guided
method programming for user-defined control. During
the run, temperature, pressure, and power graphs are
displayed in real-time on the built-in touchscreen. Training
videos can be accessed directly from the touchscreen to
educate new users on proper vessel assembly, system
operation, and maintenance. Reactions, run data and
methods can be recalled easily and exported onto a USB
drive or printed from the built-in printer option.

Precision

The Most
Accurate
Temperature
Control Available
Fiber-optic temperature control provides the most precise
temperature measurement available, by directly measuring
the temperature inside the reaction vessel. Electromagnetic
stirring helps to ensure maximum agitation for your reaction
mixture. Adjust the speed to guarantee your sample mixes
each and every time no matter the reaction.

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 Flexible

One Instrument, Many Possibilities

The MARS 6 Synthesis microwave provides educators and researchers with • Teaching Laboratories
a safe and simple to use tool for parallel reaction processing under uniform, • Organic Synthesis
reproducible conditions. Perform reactions safely at higher temperatures with • Inorganic Chemistry
shorter reaction times, leaving more time for teaching and less time waiting in • Nanomaterial Production
the lab! The flexible vessel sets can accommodate a wide range of academic • Polymer Synthesis
class sizes and reaction scales for virtually any syntheses.
• Scale-Up Production
• Acid Digestion for Metals Analysis
• Solvent Extraction

EasyPrep™ Plus
Open Vessel MARS XPress Plus
& EasyPrep™
• 5 minute (EasyPrep™ Plus)
Minimum Ramp Time 5 minute 5 minute
• 20 minute (EasyPrep™)

Maximum Number of Vessels 12 1 16

Maximum Working Volume

75 mL 70% of Flask Volume 75 mL
(per vessel)

Minimum Working Volume

20 mL 100 mL 20 mL
(per vessel)

Maximum Control Temperature 300 °C Reflux 210 °C

Fiber Optic Probe or Fiber Optic

Temperature Control Type Fiber Optic Probe Fiber Optic Probe
Probe and IR (DuoTemp™)

Vessel Teflon® TFM 1700 Standard Round Bottom Teflon®

• Sapphire (EasyPrep Plus)

Thermowell Glass or PFA Sapphire
• Teflon® TFM (EasyPrep)

• Inorganic and material

Organic and inorganic
research (EasyPrep Plus) Organic and inorganic
Ideal Chemistry teaching laboratories,
• Zeolite synthesis, other teaching laboratories
and large scale chemistry
alkaline chemistry (EasyPrep)

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CLEAN,
FAST Hertz: Unit of measurement
Microwave Energy
Microwave irradiation is a form of energy that falls between 300 and 300,000

ORGANIC
of frequency, numerically megahertz (MHz), relatively low on the electromagnetic spectrum. (Figure 1) Unlike
equal to cycles per second. ultraviolet radiation, which is used in photochemistry and can break chemical bonds,
microwaves are low frequency forms of energy that only cause the molecules to rotate.

CHEMISTRY
Figure 1. The Electromagnetic Spectrum
Compared to using a hotplate to heat a reaction mixture, microwave irradiation is
much more efficient and greatly reduces the reaction time. The hotplate relies on
Visible

Microwave heating is
X-Rays Ultraviolet Infrared Microwaves Radioefficient
significantly more waves thermal conductivity and convection currents to heat the reaction mixture. That
than conventional heating. energy must first heat the vessel containing the reaction mixture, and then pass
Laser Radiation
STUDENT EDITION The energy of a microwave
at a frequency of 2.45 GHz 10-10 10-9 10-8 10-7 10-6
About 80% of the power
10-5 10-4 10-3 10-2 consumed
10-1 by
1 a microwave
through to the reactants. Microwave energy interacts directly with the molecules in
the reaction mixture, heating the reactants much faster than conventional methods.
is 0.0016 electron volts Wave Length (meters) oven is used to heat food With microwave irradiation, since the energy is interacting with the molecules at a very
(eV). The average energies compared to as little as fast rate, the molecules do not have time to relax and the heat generated can be, for
of some common chemical 3x1012 3x1010 3x108 3x106 3x104 10% for conventional
3x102 ovens.
short times, much greater than the overall recorded temperature of the bulk reaction
bonds are as follows: Frequency (MHz) mixture. In essence, there will be instantaneous localized superheating. (Figure 5)
Microwave-Assisted Laboratory ExperimentsC-C single bond = 3-4 eV Figure 5. Localized superheating of molecules in solutions.
C=C double bond = 6-7 eV
Nicholas Leadbeater, Ph.D. & Cynthia McGowan, Ph.D. O-H bond = 4-5 eV Molecular
vibrations
Inner-shell
electrons Outer-shell
(valence)
electrons Molecular rotations

Like all electromagnetic energy, microwaves move at the speed of light and are
comprised of oscillating electric and magnetic fields. (Figure 2) These fields swing
back and forth at right angles to each other, perpendicular to the source of the energy.
It is primarily the electric field of the microwave which interacts with molecules and
causes the transfer of energy and the generation of heat.

Figure 2. A Microwave

Localized Microwave heating

c superheating

Student Lab Manual

The rate of a reaction is described by the Arrhenius equation, which expresses the
relationship between the rate of reaction and the activation energy, Ea. (Figure 6)

Figure 6. Arrhenius Equation

cem.com/lab-manual
= electric field
= magnetic field
Contact your Account
Manager or [email protected]
= wavelength (12.2 cm for 2450 MHz)
The Arrhenius equation
c = speed of light (300,000 km/s)is a simple, yet very
accurate predictor of the
reaction rate.
for the Instructor’s Edition
TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

The activation energy is the energy barrier that must be overcome in order for the
reaction to occur. A microwave transfers energy to the reaction every nanosecond
(10 -9 seconds). The almost constant energy input is achieved at a rate greater than

TABLE OF CONTENTS 6

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