Flow chemistry

“Flow chemistry”, sometimes referred to as “plug flow” or “continuous flow chemistry” is the process of performing chemical reactions in a tube or pipe. Reactive components are pumped together at a mixing junction and flowed down a temperature-controlled pipe or tube. This provides some major advantages such as faster reactions, cleaner products, safer reactions and easy scale-up.

What are the benefits of flow chemistry?

  • Faster reactions

    Flow reactors are easily pressurized (e.g. Asia systems can be pressurized to 300psi). This allows reactions to be heated 100-150ºC above their normal boiling point, therefore, creating reaction rates that are 1000s of times faster. This process is called superheating.

  • Cleaner products

    Flow reactors enable excellent reaction selectivity. The rapid diffusion mixing avoids the issues found in batch reactors. The high surface area to volume ratio (1000x greater than a batch reactor) enables almost instantaneous heating or cooling and therefore ultimate temperature control.

  • Safer reactions

    Flow chemistry allows only a small amount of hazardous intermediate to be formed at any instant. The high surface area also allows excellent control of exotherms.

  • Integrated synthesis, work-up, and analysis

    Reaction products exiting a flow reactor can be flowed into a flow aqueous workup system or solid phase scavenger column. From there they can be analyzed either in line (e.g. FTIR) or a sample taken, using a sampler and diluter then and injected onto and LCMS.

  • Rapid reaction optimization

    Flow Chemistry with automation enables the quick variation of reaction conditions on a very small scale e.g. 100 µL. Parameters such as reaction time, temperature, ratio of reagents, concentration and reagents themselves can all be rapidly varied. One reaction can follow another, separated by solvent, each cleaning out the previous reaction.

  • Easy scale-up

    Scale-up issues are minimized due to maintaining excellent mixing and heat transfer. Higher flow rates and correspondingly larger reactors can be used to easily produce kilogram quantities.

  • Reaction conditions not possible using traditional batch chemistry methods

    Flow chemistry facilitates reaction conditions not possible in batch such as a 5-second reaction at 250 ºC. Multi-step procedures such as a rapid low-temperature deprotonation followed instantaneously by the addition of an electrophile high temperature are made easy.

A photograph of a Glass Microreactor Chip for the Syrris Asia Flow Chemistry system
Diffusional mixing in microreactors: A glass microreactor for the Syrris Asia Flow Chemistry System, showing the channels that chemicals run through

Examples of flow chemistry

Syrris has a range of resources that demonstrate a variety of flow chemistry application notes and reactions using Syrris’ flow chemistry systems. Syrris’ innovative microreactor-based systems include the modular Asia product range. Here are two examples shown below:

  • Oxidation of a primary alcohol

    Oxidation of primary alcohols using solid supported N-alkylammonium perruthenateThis paper describes reaction conditions for the oxidation of alcohols in continuous flow using a column reactor packed with polymer-supported tetra-N-alkylammonium perruthenate.

    Chemistry
    Organic Synthesis

    Author
    Steven V. Ley, Ian R. Baxendale, Jon Deeley, Charlotte M. Griffiths-Jones, Steen Saaby, Geoffrey K. Tranmer (University of Cambridge)

    System
    Syrris Asia

    Download paper

  • Williamson Ether Synthesis
    This paper describes a multi-step formation of functionalized indoles. This step focuses on a high yielding Williamson ether synthesis using Methanol as a nucleophile.

     

    Chemistry
    Organic Synthesis

    Author
    Thomas Tricotet and Donal O’Shea (University College Dublin)

    System
    Syrris Asia

Flow chemistry customer stories

A new dimension in drug discovery for Gedeon Richter

The pharmaceutical industry has been leading the way in its use of flow chemistry technology for research and development and manufacturing of new drugs, and Gedeon Richter is no exception. Using a Syrris Asia Flow Chemistry system, researchers have been able to create new heterocyclic scaffolds – chemistry that was impossible to them before adopting flow chemistry techniques.

Read the full customer story here

We purchased an Asia flow chemistry reactor in June 2012, and are reaping the benefits of using flow chemistry techniques. The system has extended the range of chemistries available to us, allowing us to work at much higher pressures and temperatures – sometimes above a solvent’s boiling point – to create completely new heterocyclic scaffolds.”

Dr. György Túrós, Research Scientist at Gedeon Richter

Precise control of reactions conditions for quantum dot synthesis

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have been using the Asia flow chemistry system to synthesize quantum dots for next-generation solar cells and LEDs.

Read the full customer story here

The growth of quantum dots is susceptible to minute changes in reaction conditions, the unique control that flow chemistry permits gave me precise and repeatable quantum dot growth.”

Dr. Tom Jellicoe, Researcher at EPSRC CDT in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (NanoDTC) at the University of Cambridge
The Syrris Asia Flow Chemistry System in use in a laboratory
The Syrris Asia Flow Chemistry System in use in a laboratory

Flow chemistry publications

The Syrris Asia flow chemistry system has been used in many ground-breaking flow chemistry studies by leading research groups and companies. Discover a selection of papers below, or see the full list here.

Introduction to flow chemistry
An introduction to flow chemistry using the Syrris Asia flow chemistry product range

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