Instantaneous Click Chemistry by a Copper-Containing Polymeric-Membrane-Installed Microflow Catalytic Reactor

Catalytic Reductive Alkylation of Amines in Batch and Microflow Conditions Using a Silicon-Wafer-Based Palladium Nanocatalyst

We describe the development of the catalytic reductive alkylation of amines with aldehydes under the atmospheric pressure of H2 using a brush-like silicon-nanostructure-supported palladium nanoparticle composite (SiNS-Pd) as a silicon-wafer-based reusable heterogeneous catalyst. The present reaction of primary and secondary amines with various aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes in the presence of the catalyst (0.02-0.05 mol % Pd) gave the corresponding secondary and tertiary amines including Lomerizine and Aticaprant in a 68% quantitative yield without overalkylation. We also designed and fabricated a flow device equipped with SiNS-Pd for microflow reactions, which was applied to the gas-liquid-solid triphasic reaction system (i.e., H2 gas, a substrate solution, and a solid catalyst). A multigram-scale reaction of aniline and benzaldehyde was demonstrated to obtain N-benzylaniline (ca. 4 g/day), in which the internal volume of the flow channel was 43 μL, the residence time was approximately 1 s, and the turnover number (TON) reached 4.0 × 104 in a continuous 24 h run (1.7 × 103 h-1; 0.50 s-1).

Supported Tris-Triazole Ligands for Batch and Continuous-Flow Copper-Catalyzed Huisgen 1,3-Dipolar Cycloaddition Reactions

The lack of supported versions of the tris[(1-benzyl-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methyl]amine (TBTA) ligand, suitable for flow-chemistry applications at scale, prompted us to develop a new route for the immobilization of such tris-triazole chelating units on highly cross-linked polystyrene resins. With this aim, the preparation of the known TBTA-type monomer 3 was optimized to develop a high-yield synthetic sequence, devoid of chromatographic purifications at any stage. Then, bead-type (P7) and monolithic (M7) functional resins were obtained by the easy and scalable suspension- or mold-copolymerization of 3 with divinylbenzene. Both types of materials were found to possess a highly porous morphology and specific surface area in the dry state and could be charged with substantial amounts of Cu(I) or Cu(II) salts. After treatment of the latter with a proper reducing agent, the corresponding supported Cu(I) complexes were tested in the copper-catalyzed alkyne-azide cycloaddition reaction (CuAAC). The immobilized catalysts proved active at room temperature and, in batch and with catalyst loadings as low as 0.6 mol%, afforded quantitative conversions within 20 h. Independent of the alkyne structure, extended use of the supported catalyst in flow was also possible. In the reaction of benzylazide and propargyl alcohol, this allowed a total turnover number larger than 400 to be reached.

Laminar flow in microfluidics investigated by spatially-resolved soft X-ray absorption and infrared spectroscopy

The application of soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) to liquid cells based on microfluidics for chemical state analysis of light elements is much more difficult than hard X-ray absorption since soft X-rays cannot deeply penetrate a microfluidic cell. In this study, we have newly developed a microfluidic cell for spatially resolved XAS, where a 100 nm thick Si₃N₄ membrane is used for the measurement window to transmit soft X-rays for keeping the microfluidic flow at a width and depth of 50 µm. The π^* peak of pyridine near the N K-edge XAS shows characteristic energy shifts near the liquid-liquid interface in a laminar flow of pyridine and water. The distributions of the molar fractions of pyridine and water near the liquid-liquid interface have been determined from the energy shifts of the π^* peak probed at different geometric positions, where pyridine is mixed in the water part of the laminar flow and vice versa. The spatial distribution of both species has also been studied by infrared microscopy, using the same microfluidic setup. The present work clearly shows that these spectroscopic techniques are easily applicable to chemical and biological reactions prepared by microfluidics.

Micelle-Enabled One-Pot Guanidine Synthesis in Water Directly from Isothiocyanate using Hypervalent Iodine(III) Reagents under Mild Conditions

In this work, we developed a one-pot synthesis of guanidine directly from isothiocyanate using DIB (diacetoxyiodobenzene) as a desulfurizing agent under micellar conditions in water. Our optimization study revealed that the use of 1 % TPGS-750-M as a surfactant with NaOH as an additive base at room temperature can convert a variety of isothiocyanates and amines into corresponding guanidines in excellent yields (69-95 %). This synthetic process in water can be applied to prepare guanidine at gram-scale quantity. Our aqueous micellar medium also demonstrated high reusability as the reaction can be performed for several cycles without losing its efficiency. The reaction is metal-free, utilizes water as solvent and practical (room temperature and open flask).

Microfluidic Reactors for Carbon Fixation under Ambient-Pressure Alkaline-Hydrothermal-Vent Conditions

The alkaline-hydrothermal-vent theory for the origin of life predicts the spontaneous reduction of CO₂, dissolved in acidic ocean waters, with H₂ from the alkaline vent effluent. This reaction would be catalyzed by Fe(Ni)S clusters precipitated at the interface, which effectively separate the two fluids into an electrochemical cell. Using microfluidic reactors, we set out to test this concept. We produced thin, long Fe(Ni)S precipitates of less than 10 µm thickness. Mixing simplified analogs of the acidic-ocean and alkaline-vent fluids, we then tested for the reduction of CO₂. We were unable to detect reduced carbon products under a number of conditions. As all of our reactions were performed at atmospheric pressure, the lack of reduced carbon products may simply be attributable to the low concentration of hydrogen in our system, suggesting that high-pressure reactors may be a necessity.

Emerging porous materials in confined spaces: from chromatographic applications to flow chemistry

Porous materials confined within capillary columns/microfluidic devices are discussed, and progress in chromatographic and membrane separations and catalysis is reviewed.

Poly(meta-phenylene oxides) for the design of a tunable, efficient, and reusable catalytic platform

We present poly(meta-phenylene oxides) as versatile and tunable scaffolds for immobilized catalyst design.

Development of Batch and Flow Immobilized Catalytic Systems with High Catalytic Activity and Reusability

My mission in catalysis research is to develop highly active and reusable supported catalytic systems in terms of fundamental chemistry and industrial application. For this purpose, I developed three types of highly active and reusable supported catalytic systems. The first type involves polymeric base-supported metal catalysts: Novel polymeric imidazole-Pd and Cu complexes were developed that worked at the mol ppm level for a variety of organic transformations. The second involves catalytic membrane-installed microflow reactors: Membranous polymeric palladium and copper complex/nanoparticle catalysts were installed at the center of a microtube to produce novel catalytic membrane-immobilized flow microreactor devices. These catalytic devices mediated a variety of organic transformations to afford the corresponding products in high yield within 1-38 s. The third is a silicon nanowire array-immobilized palladium nanoparticle catalyst. This device promoted a variety of organic transformations as a heterogeneous catalyst. The Mizoroki-Heck reaction proceeded with 280 mol ppb (0.000028 mol%) of the catalyst, affording the corresponding products in high yield.

Cupric oxide nanowires on three-dimensional copper foam for application in click reaction

CuO nanowires can be synthesized by facile thermal oxidation of 3D Cu foam in air, which were found to be effective heterogeneous catalysts for the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions without using any additional support and bases.

Copper complexes bearing an NHC–calixarene unit: synthesis and application in click chemistry

Novel N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) copper complexes supported by calix[4]arene were synthesized and showed good catalytic activity when applied in click chemistry.

New organometallic Schiff-base copper complexes as efficient “click” reaction precatalysts

In the presence of sodium ascorbate, recyclable CuAAC precatalysts displayed high activity allowing the synthesis of a wide variety of 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles in high isolated yields.