Flow Chemistry Scale Up for Microwave Reactions

Three new Application Notes from Uniqsis Ltd, manufacturers of the FlowSyn™ Continuous Flow Reactor, describe how the system can reproduce and scale up reactions that have been developed using small-scale batch reactions in a microwave reactor.

Microwave reactors are frequently used for small-scale batch chemistry. However, due to the extremes of temperature and pressure reached in a microwave it is often difficult to transfer these reactions to conventional non-microwave apparatus for subsequent development, leading to difficulties with scaling studies. The standard FlowSyn system can directly and accurately mimic the conditions created in a microwave reactor, and since in flow chemistry the quantity of material produced is limited only by the reaction time, scaling can be achieved with ease.

According to Uniqsis Chief Scientific Officer Dr Mark Ladlow, FlowSyn can also perform a much wider range of chemistries than a microwave reactor, including low temperature fast reactions. A much wider range of solvents can also be used, allowing easier evaporation post synthesis, better product isolation, and improved product purity.

Reactions can be carried out with FlowSyn at up to 260ºC and pressures up to 1000psi (~70 Bar). High activation energy chemistries that might previously have required a catalyst or the use of a microwave reactor are now candidates for continuous flow synthesis, with its attendant benefits - better reproducibility and scalability and fewer problems with unstable intermediates or unexpected exotherms.