Continuous flow chemistry improves safety in hazardous reactions

A case study from Syrris highlights how researchers at Sygnature Discovery have successfully used continuous flow chemistry to manage hazardous reactions safely and efficiently at scale.

Syrris, a developer of flow chemistry technologies, has published a customer case study describing how scientists at Sygnature Discovery used the Asia Flow Chemistry System to carry out two challenging reactions involving hazardous reagents. The work, carried out at Sygnature Discovery’s Nottingham laboratory, demonstrates how continuous flow methods can provide greater control and improved safety compared with conventional batch processes.

Led by Dr Raminder Mulla, Lead Scientist at Sygnature Discovery, the team focused on two demanding workflows: the oxidation of an aniline to form a nitroarene containing an acid-sensitive functional group, and the reaction of neopentyl iodide with t-butyllithium. Using the Asia Flow Chemistry System, the researchers were able to complete the nitroarene synthesis on a decagram scale and increase the scale of the aniline oxidation by 83%, while also safely performing the t-butyllithium reaction.

“We couldn’t run the oxidation of an aniline to a nitroarene at the desired scale in batch reactors as oxidant would accumulate and possibly detonate,” explained Dr Mulla. “Asia provided us with an easy-to-use flow chemistry platform in which to perform this scale-up, including a syringe pump capable of working against high back-pressures and modules such as the chip heater that could be adapted to work with third-party equipment.”

Continuous flow operation also simplified scale-up of the organolithium reaction.

“Scaling up with Asia was a simple process where we ran the system for longer periods to get our desired results,” said Dr Mulla. “The Asia Syringe Pump’s complete infusion of the syringe contents made purging of residual t-BuLi reagent an easy process, allowing for a highly controlled, productive synthesis.”

The Asia Flow Chemistry System provides researchers with a flexible platform for scaling chemical reactions while maintaining precise control over reaction conditions. By reducing reagent inventory and improving process control, flow chemistry can help mitigate risk when working with hazardous or highly reactive compounds.

Sygnature Discovery, an integrated drug discovery CRO headquartered in Nottingham with operations in the UK and Canada, specialises in tackling complex synthetic chemistry challenges for pharmaceutical research.

Read the full case study.

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