**10. Microwave heating process of MBBA in the isotropic phase**

**Figure 6B** presents an increase of the CSC-temperature for the MBBA sample under continuous wave (CW) microwave irradiation. The CSC-temperature increased from 50 to 70°C within 2 min under the application of 65 w CW microwave irradiation, based on the majority of protons. After microwave irradiation for 5 min, the CSC-temperature increase plateaued. However, there were significant variations in the CSC-temperatures among the protons; the 7′ and α' protons indicated 110 and 80°C, respectively. When microwave irradiation was applied at 130 W, the CSC-temperature was increased to 140°C for the majority of the protons, although values of 210 and 330°C were reached for the α' and 7′ protons, respectively. A further 8 min irradiation was required to obtain a saturated temperature. It is noted that the CSC-temperature of 7′ and α' protons showed higher CSC-temperature than the other protons. After microwave irradiation at 195 W, the CSC-temperature increased to 160°C within 5 min, although the α' and 7′ protons were discrepant from the other protons, with 220 and 350°C, respectively. Thus, α' and 7′ protons show much higher CSC-temperature than the other protons due to a non-thermal microwave effect as in the case of the OH protons of ethanol.
