Flow Chemistry under Extreme Conditions: Synthesis of Macrocycles with Musklike Olfactoric Properties

Advances in Continuous Flow Fluorination Reactions

Fluorination reactions are important in constructing organofluorine motifs, which contribute to favorable biological properties in pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. However, fluorination reagents and reactions are associated with various problems, such as their hazardous nature, high exothermicity, and poor selectivity and scalability. Continuous flow has emerged as a transformative technology to provide many advantages relative to batch syntheses. This review article summarizes recent continuous flow techniques that address the limitations and challenges of fluorination reactions. Approaches based on different flow techniques are discussed, including gas-liquid reactions, packed-bed reactors, in-line purifications, streamlined multistep synthesis, large-scale reactions well as flow photoredox- and electrocatalysis.

Process intensification in continuous flow organic synthesis with enabling and hybrid technologies

Industrial organic synthesis is time and energy consuming, and generates substantial waste. Traditional conductive heating and mixing in batch reactors is no longer competitive with continuous-flow synthetic methods and enabling technologies that can strongly promote reaction kinetics. These advances lead to faster and simplified downstream processes with easier workup, purification and process scale-up. In the current Industry 4.0 revolution, new advances that are based on cyber-physical systems and artificial intelligence will be able to optimize and invigorate synthetic processes by connecting cascade reactors with continuous in-line monitoring and even predict solutions in case of unforeseen events. Alternative energy sources, such as dielectric and ohmic heating, ultrasound, hydrodynamic cavitation, reactive extruders and plasma have revolutionized standard procedures. So-called hybrid or hyphenated techniques, where the combination of two different energy sources often generates synergistic effects, are also worthy of mention. Herein, we report our consolidated experience of all of these alternative techniques.

Synthesis of odorants in flow and their applications in perfumery

Continuous flow technology is a key technology for sustainable manufacturing with numerous applications for the synthesis of fine chemicals. In recent years, the preparation of odorants utilizing the advantages of flow reactors received growing attention. In this review, we give an overview of selected methods for the synthesis of odorants in flow, including heterogeneously catalyzed reactions, gas reactions, and photochemical C–H functionalization processes. After a brief introduction on types of odorants, the presented odorant syntheses are ordered according to the main odor families “fruity”, “green”, “marine”, “floral”, “spicy”, “woody”, “ambery”, and “musky” and their use and importance for perfumery is briefly discussed.

Inductive heating and flow chemistry - a perfect synergy of emerging enabling technologies

Inductive heating has developed into a powerful and rapid indirect heating technique used in various fields of chemistry, but also in medicine. Traditionally, inductive heating is used in industry, e.g., for heating large metallic objects including bending, bonding, and welding pipes. In addition, inductive heating has emerged as a partner for flow chemistry, both of which are enabling technologies for organic synthesis. This report reviews the combination of flow chemistry and inductive heating in industrial settings as well as academic research and demonstrates that the two technologies ideally complement each other.

Enabling Technology for Supramolecular Chemistry

Supramolecular materials-materials that exploit non-covalent interactions-are increasing in structural complexity, selectivity, function, stability, and scalability, but their use in applications has been comparatively limited. In this Minireview, we summarize the opportunities presented by enabling technology-flow chemistry, high-throughput screening, and automation-to wield greater control over the processes in supramolecular chemistry and accelerate the discovery and use of self-assembled systems. Finally, we give an outlook for how these tools could transform the future of the field.

Gram-Scale Domino Synthesis in Batch and Flow Mode of Azetidinium Salts

Azetidinium salts are important motifs in organic synthesis but are difficult to obtain due to extremely long synthetic protocols. Herein, a rapid continuous-flow process for the on-demand synthesis of azetidinium salts is described. In particular, the nucleophilic addition of secondary amines and the subsequent intramolecular N-cyclization have been investigated in batch and continuous-flow modes, exploring the effects of solvent type, temperature, reaction time, and amine substituent on the synthesis of azetidinium salts. This has enabled us to quickly identify optimal reaction conditions and obtain microkinetic parameters, verifying that the use of a flow reactor leads to a reduction of the activation energy for the epichlorohydrin aminolysis due to the better control of mass and heat transfer during reaction. This confirms the key role of continuous-flow technologies to affect the kinetics of a reaction and make synthetic protocols ultrarapid and more efficient.