Camera-enabled techniques for organic synthesis

Synthetic Chemistry in Flow: From Photolysis & Homogeneous Photocatalysis to Heterogeneous Photocatalysis

Photocatalytic synthesis of value-added chemicals has gained increasing attention in recent years owing to its versatility in driving many important reactions under ambient conditions. Selective hydrogenation, oxidation, coupling, and halogenation with a high conversion of the reactants have been realized using designed photocatalysts in batch reactors with small volumes at a laboratory scale; however, scaling-up remains a critical challenge due to inefficient utilization of incident light and active sites of the photocatalysts, resulting in poor catalytic performance that hinders its practical applications. Flow systems are considered one of the solutions for practical applications of light-driven reactions and have experienced great success in photolytic and homogeneous photocatalysis, yet their applications in heterogeneous photocatalysis are still under development. In this perspective, we have summarized recent progress in photolytic and photocatalytic synthetic chemistry performed in flow systems from the view of reactor design with a special focus on heterogeneous photocatalysis. The advantages and limitations of different flow systems, as well as some practical considerations of design strategies are discussed.

Nitro-sulfinate Reductive Coupling to Access (Hetero)aryl Sulfonamides

A method to assemble (hetero)aryl sulfonamides via the reductive coupling of aryl sulfinates and nitroarenes is reported. Various reducing conditions with sodium bisulfite and with or without tin(II) chloride in DMSO were developed using an ultrasound bath to improve reaction homogeneity and mixing. A range of (hetero)aryl sulfonamides bearing a selection of functional groups were prepared, and the mechanism of the transformation was investigated. These investigations have led us to propose the formation of nitrosoarene intermediates, which were established via an independent molecular coupling strategy.

Computer vision as a new paradigm for monitoring of solution and solid phase peptide synthesis

We report a strategy for the camera-enabled non-contact colourimetric reaction monitoring and optimisation of amide bond formation, mediated by coupling reagents. For amide bond formation in solution phase, investigation of reactions mediated by HATU, PyAOP, and DIC/Oxyma evidenced correlations between colour parameters extracted from video data and conversion to amide product measured by off-line HPLC analysis of concentration. These correlations, supported by mutual information analysis, were further investigated using video recordings of solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), co-analysed by off-line HPLC to track remaining unreacted substrate in solution. An optimisation method of coupling time in SPPS was derived from ΔE (a measurement of colour contrast), giving comparable isolated peptide yield and purity at 65-95% reduced overall reaction time. The same colour data enabled data-rich monitoring of reaction rate attenuation, consisted with computationally-derived measures of amino acid steric bulk. These findings provide a foundation for exploring the use of camera technology and computer vision towards automated and online mechanistic profiling of SPPS.

A focus on computer vision for non-contact monitoring of catalyst degradation and product formation kinetics

Chemists know the value of looking at a reaction for clues about reaction progress and success, but what-it-looks-like has never been quantified. Reid and co-workers (C. Yan, M. Cowie, C. Howcutt, K. M. P. Wheelhouse, N. S. Hodnett, M. Kollie, M. Gildea, M. H. Goodfellow and M. Reid, Chem. Sci., 2023, 14, 5323-5331, https://doi.org/10.1039/d2sc05702f) have developed an approach that uses camera footage of reactions to obtain quantitative descriptors of changes in reaction mixtures to support kinetic analysis.

Teaching old presumptive tests new digital tricks with computer vision for forensic applications

Presumptive (or 'spot') tests have served forensic scientists, law enforcement, and legal practitioners for over a hundred years. Yet, the intended design of such tests, enabling quick identification of drugs by-eye, also hides their full potential. Here, we report the development and application of time-resolved imaging methods of reactions attending spot tests for amphetamines, barbiturates, and benzodiazepines. Analysis of the reaction videos helps distinguish drugs within the same structural class that, by-eye, are judged to give the same qualitative spot test result. It is envisaged that application of these results will bridge the existing suite of field and lab-based confirmatory forensic tests, and support a broader range of colorimetric sensing technologies.

Computer vision for non-contact monitoring of catalyst degradation and product formation kinetics

We report a computer vision strategy for the extraction and colorimetric analysis of catalyst degradation and product-formation kinetics from video footage. The degradation of palladium(ii) pre-catalyst systems to form 'Pd black' is investigated as a widely relevant case study for catalysis and materials chemistries. Beyond the study of catalysts in isolation, investigation of Pd-catalyzed Miyaura borylation reactions revealed informative correlations between colour parameters (most notably ΔE, a colour-agnostic measure of contrast change) and the concentration of product measured by off-line analysis (NMR and LC-MS). The breakdown of such correlations helped inform conditions under which reaction vessels were compromised by air ingress. These findings present opportunities to expand the toolbox of non-invasive analytical techniques, operationally cheaper and simpler to implement than common spectroscopic methods. The approach introduces the capability of analyzing the macroscopic 'bulk' for the study of reaction kinetics in complex mixtures, in complement to the more common study of microscopic and molecular specifics.

An Optical Approach for Cell Pellet Detection

Cell-based screening methods are increasingly used in diagnostics and drug development. As a result, various research groups from around the world have been working on this topic to develop methods and algorithms that increase the degree of automation of various measurement techniques. The field of computer vision is becoming increasingly important and has therefore a significant influence on the development of various processes in modern laboratories. In this work we describe an approach for detecting two height information, the phase boundary of a cell pellet and the bottom edge of the tube, and thereby a method for determining the highest point of the topology. The starting point for the development of the method described are cells obtained by various procedures and stabilized by a fixative. Centrifugation of the tube causes the cells to settle to the bottom of the tube, resulting in a cell pellet with a clear phase boundary between the cells and the fixative. For further studies, the supernatant fixative has to be removed without reducing the number of cells. The fixative is to be extracted automatically by a liquid robot, which is only possible by accurately determining the cell pellet height. Due to centrifugation, an uneven topology is formed, which is why the entire phase boundary must be examined to detect the highest point of the cell pellet. For this approach, the tube to be examined, which contains the cells and the fixative, is rotated 360° in defined small steps after centrifugation. During rotation, an image is captured in each step, after which a defined image area is separated from the center of the image and merged into a panoramic image. This produces a panoramic image of the cell topology which represents the complete phase boundary, the boundary located on the outside of the tube. This panoramic image is modified through various image processing steps to extract and detect the phase boundary. Various image processing algorithms from the OpenCV library are used. In the first step, the panoramic image is convolved with a Gaussian blur filter to reduce noise. In the following step, a black and white image is generated by a thresholding process. This black and white image, or binary image, is convolved with a Sobel operator in the x and y directions and the results are superimposed. This overlaid image shows the top edge of the cell pellet and other edges located in the image. A logical exclusion method of the obtained boundaries is used for the detection of the phase boundary. To detect the tube bottom, a multilevel model was trained in advance with an appropriate data set. This model can detect and localize in near real time the tube bottom in an image. By using the two-height information of the different boundaries, phase boundary and tube bottom, the highest point of the cell pellet can be detected. This information is then passed on to a higher-level process so that the liquid robot can approach this point with the pipette tip to remove the excess fixative. By determining the highest point, the probability of being able to remove a larger amount of fixative without reducing the number of cells is highest. This ensures that post-processing studies have the largest possible number of cells available with complete automation.

Machine learning for yield prediction for chemical reactions using in situ sensors

Machine learning models were developed to predict product formation from time-series reaction data for ten Buchwald-Hartwig coupling reactions. The data was provided by DeepMatter and was collected in their DigitalGlassware cloud platform. The reaction probe has 12 sensors to measure properties of interest, including temperature, pressure, and colour. Colour was a good predictor of product formation for this reaction and machine learning models were able to learn which of the properties were important. Predictions for the current product formation (in terms of % yield) had a mean absolute error of 1.2%. For predicting 30, 60 and 120 min ahead the error rose to 3.4, 4.1 and 4.6%, respectively. The work here presents an example into the insight that can be obtained from applying machine learning methods to sensor data in synthetic chemistry.

Catalytic Oxygenation-Mediated Extraction as a Facile and Green Way to Analyze Volatile Solutes

Sparging-based methods have long been used to liberate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from liquid sample matrices prior to analysis. In these methods, a carrier gas is delivered from an external source. Here, we demonstrate "catalytic oxygenation-mediated extraction" (COME), which relies on biocatalytic production of oxygen occurring directly in the sample matrix. The newly formed oxygen (micro)bubbles extract the dissolved VOCs. The gaseous extract is immediately transferred to a separation or detection system for analysis. To start COME, dilute hydrogen peroxide is injected into the sample supplemented with catalase enzyme. The entire procedure is performed automatically-after pressing a "start" button, making a clapping sound, or triggering from a smartphone. The pump, valves, and detection system are controlled by a microcontroller board. For quality control and safety purposes, the reaction chamber is monitored by a camera linked to a single-board computer, which follows the enzymatic reaction progress by analyzing images of foam in real time. The data are instantly uploaded to the internet cloud for retrieval. The COME apparatus has been coupled on-line with the gas chromatography electron ionization mass spectrometry (MS) system, atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI) MS system, and APCI ion-mobility spectrometry system. The three hyphenated variants have been tested in analyses of complex matrices (e.g., fruit-based drinks, whiskey, urine, and stored wastewater). In addition to the use of catalase, COME variants using crude potato pulp or manganese(IV) dioxide have been demonstrated. The technique is inexpensive, fast, reliable, and green: it uses low-toxicity chemicals and emits oxygen.

A comprehensive review of flow chemistry techniques tailored to the flavours and fragrances industries

Due to their intrinsic physical properties, which includes being able to perform as volatile liquids at room and biological temperatures, fragrance ingredients/intermediates make ideal candidates for continuous-flow manufacturing. This review highlights the potential crossover between a multibillion dollar industry and the flourishing sub-field of flow chemistry evolving within the discipline of organic synthesis. This is illustrated through selected examples of industrially important transformations specific to the fragrances and flavours industry and by highlighting the advantages of conducting these transformations by using a flow approach. This review is designed to be a compendium of techniques and apparatus already published in the chemical and engineering literature which would constitute a known solution or inspiration for commonly encountered procedures in the manufacture of fragrance and flavour chemicals.

Application of reactor engineering concepts in continuous flow chemistry: a review

The adoption of flow technology for the manufacture of chemical entities, and in particular pharmaceuticals, has seen rapid growth over the past two decades with the technology now blurring the lines between chemistry and chemical engineering.

Computer Vision for Recognition of Materials and Vessels in Chemistry Lab Settings and the Vector-LabPics Data Set

This work presents a machine learning approach for the computer vision-based recognition of materials inside vessels in the chemistry lab and other settings. In addition, we release a data set associated with the training of the model for further model development. The task to learn is finding the region, boundaries, and category for each material phase and vessel in an image. Handling materials inside mostly transparent containers is the main activity performed by human and robotic chemists in the laboratory. Visual recognition of vessels and their contents is essential for performing this task. Modern machine-vision methods learn recognition tasks by using data sets containing a large number of annotated images. This work presents the Vector-LabPics data set, which consists of 2187 images of materials within mostly transparent vessels in a chemistry lab and other general settings. The images are annotated for both the vessels and the individual material phases inside them, and each instance is assigned one or more classes (liquid, solid, foam, suspension, powder, ...). The fill level, labels, corks, and parts of the vessel are also annotated. Several convolutional nets for semantic and instance segmentation were trained on this data set. The trained neural networks achieved good accuracy in detecting and segmenting vessels and material phases, and in classifying liquids and solids, but relatively low accuracy in segmenting multiphase systems such as phase-separating liquids.

Elevating Chemistry Research with a Modern Electronics Toolkit

With the rapid development of high technology, chemical science is not as it used to be a century ago. Many chemists acquire and utilize skills that are well beyond the traditional definition of chemistry. The digital age has transformed chemistry laboratories. One aspect of this transformation is the progressing implementation of electronics and computer science in chemistry research. In the past decade, numerous chemistry-oriented studies have benefited from the implementation of electronic modules, including microcontroller boards (MCBs), single-board computers (SBCs), professional grade control and data acquisition systems, as well as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). In particular, MCBs and SBCs provide good value for money. The application areas for electronic modules in chemistry research include construction of simple detection systems based on spectrophotometry and spectrofluorometry principles, customizing laboratory devices for automation of common laboratory practices, control of reaction systems (batch- and flow-based), extraction systems, chromatographic and electrophoretic systems, microfluidic systems (classical and nonclassical), custom-built polymerase chain reaction devices, gas-phase analyte detection systems, chemical robots and drones, construction of FPGA-based imaging systems, and the Internet-of-Chemical-Things. The technology is easy to handle, and many chemists have managed to train themselves in its implementation. The only major obstacle in its implementation is probably one's imagination.

Continuous Flow Upgrading of Selected C2-C6 Platform Chemicals Derived from Biomass

The ever increasing industrial production of commodity and specialty chemicals inexorably depletes the finite primary fossil resources available on Earth. The forecast of population growth over the next 3 decades is a very strong incentive for the identification of alternative primary resources other than petro-based ones. In contrast with fossil resources, renewable biomass is a virtually inexhaustible reservoir of chemical building blocks. Shifting the current industrial paradigm from almost exclusively petro-based resources to alternative bio-based raw materials requires more than vibrant political messages; it requires a profound revision of the concepts and technologies on which industrial chemical processes rely. Only a small fraction of molecules extracted from biomass bears significant chemical and commercial potentials to be considered as ubiquitous chemical platforms upon which a new, bio-based industry can thrive. Owing to its inherent assets in terms of unique process experience, scalability, and reduced environmental footprint, flow chemistry arguably has a major role to play in this context. This review covers a selection of C₂ to C₆ bio-based chemical platforms with existing commercial markets including polyols (ethylene glycol, 1,2-propanediol, 1,3-propanediol, glycerol, 1,4-butanediol, xylitol, and sorbitol), furanoids (furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural) and carboxylic acids (lactic acid, succinic acid, fumaric acid, malic acid, itaconic acid, and levulinic acid). The aim of this review is to illustrate the various aspects of upgrading bio-based platform molecules toward commodity or specialty chemicals using new process concepts that fall under the umbrella of continuous flow technology and that could change the future perspectives of biorefineries.

Flow Chemistry in Contemporary Chemical Sciences: A Real Variety of Its Applications

Flow chemistry is an area of contemporary chemistry exploiting the hydrodynamic conditions of flowing liquids to provide particular environments for chemical reactions. These particular conditions of enhanced and strictly regulated transport of reagents, improved interface contacts, intensification of heat transfer, and safe operation with hazardous chemicals can be utilized in chemical synthesis, both for mechanization and automation of analytical procedures, and for the investigation of the kinetics of ultrafast reactions. Such methods are developed for more than half a century. In the field of chemical synthesis, they are used mostly in pharmaceutical chemistry for efficient syntheses of small amounts of active substances. In analytical chemistry, flow measuring systems are designed for environmental applications and industrial monitoring, as well as medical and pharmaceutical analysis, providing essential enhancement of the yield of analyses and precision of analytical determinations. The main concept of this review is to show the overlapping of development trends in the design of instrumentation and various ways of the utilization of specificity of chemical operations under flow conditions, especially for synthetic and analytical purposes, with a simultaneous presentation of the still rather limited correspondence between these two main areas of flow chemistry.

A tutored discourse on microcontrollers, single board computers and their applications to monitor and control chemical reactions

This Tutored Discourse constitutes a preliminary exposure on how synthesis chemists can engage positively with inexpensive, low-power microcontrollers to aid control, monitoring and optimisation of chemical reactions.

Reconfigurable Flow Platform for Automated Reagent Screening and Autonomous Optimization for Bioinspired Lignans Synthesis

Naturally occurring benzoxanthenones, which belong to the vast family of lignans, are promising biologically relevant targets. They are biosynthetically produced by the oxidative dimerization of 2-propenyl phenols. In this manuscript, we disclose a powerful automated flow-based strategy for identifying and optimizing a cobalt-catalyzed oxidizing system for the bioinspired dimerization of 2-propenyl phenols. We designed a reconfigurable flow reactor associating online monitoring and process control instrumentation. Our machine was first configured as an automated screening platform to evaluate a matrix of 4 catalysts (plus the blank) and 5 oxidants (plus the blank) at two different temperatures, resulting in an array of 50 reactions. The automated screening was conducted on micromole scale at a rate of one fully characterized reaction every 26 min. After having identified the most promising cobalt-catalyzed oxidizing system, the automated screening platform was straightforwardly reconfigured to an autonomous self-optimizing flow reactor by implementation of an optimization algorithm in the closed-loop system. The optimization campaign allowed the determination of very effective experimental conditions in a limited number of experiments, which allowed us to prepare the natural products carpanone and polemannone B as well as synthetic analogues.

Landscape and opportunities for active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing in developing African economies

This review will highlight the opportunities that exist in the localization of cutting-edge manufacturing technologies within an African context.

Facile Microwave-assisted Synthesis Manganese Doped Zinc Sulfide Nanoparticles

Undoped and manganese doped zinc sulfide nanoparticles were produced by a fast, one-step and two-component microwave-assisted synthesis method. The solid phase retains around 78% of the initial Mn concentration, as revealed by Particle Induced X-ray Emission analysis. X-ray diffraction patterns confirmed zinc blende structure and in the transmission electron microscopy images, nanoparticles with triangular prism and cube shapes were observed, respectively with an average particle size around 7 nm and 13 nm. Dried powders of zinc sulfide nanoparticles, doped with 0.1 mol% and 0.7 mol% of Mn ions, show highest brilliance of luminescence under UV light. Increasing dopant levels resulted in a diminishing emission that vanishes above 4% of dopant concentration. The synthesis of ZnS was monitored and two main events were detected, one at 145 °C corresponding to the sol-gel phase formation and another after ~3 min at 300 °C where the precipitation of the zinc sulfide nanoparticles occurs.

Across-the-World Automated Optimization and Continuous-Flow Synthesis of Pharmaceutical Agents Operating Through a Cloud-Based Server

The power of the Cloud has been harnessed for pharmaceutical compound production with remote servers based in Tokyo, Japan being left to autonomously find optimal synthesis conditions for three active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in laboratories in Cambridge, UK. A researcher located in Los Angeles, USA controlled the entire process via an internet connection. The constituent synthetic steps for Tramadol, Lidocaine, and Bupropion were thus optimized with minimal intervention from operators within hours, yielding conditions satisfying customizable evaluation functions for all examples.

In-line separation of multicomponent reaction mixtures using a new semi-continuous supercritical fluid chromatography system

A new bespoke semi-continuous parallel column supercritical fluid chromatography unit has been developed that solves the problem of effective separation of continuous, multicomponent reaction mixtures.

Batch–flow hybrid synthesis of the antipsychotic clozapine

The development of batch–flow hybrid processes is becoming an attractive prospect through which chemists can make use of the best aspects of both technologies.

Automating multistep flow synthesis: approach and challenges in integrating chemistry, machines and logic

The implementation of automation in the multistep flow synthesis is essential for transforming laboratory-scale chemistry into a reliable industrial process. In this review, we briefly introduce the role of automation based on its application in synthesis viz. auto sampling and inline monitoring, optimization and process control. Subsequently, we have critically reviewed a few multistep flow synthesis and suggested a possible control strategy to be implemented so that it helps to reliably transfer the laboratory-scale synthesis strategy to a pilot scale at its optimum conditions. Due to the vast literature in multistep synthesis, we have classified the literature and have identified the case studies based on few criteria viz. type of reaction, heating methods, processes involving in-line separation units, telescopic synthesis, processes involving in-line quenching and process with the smallest time scale of operation. This classification will cover the broader range in the multistep synthesis literature.

Enabling Technologies for the Future of Chemical Synthesis

Technology is evolving at breakneck pace, changing the way we communicate, travel, find out information, and live our lives. Yet chemistry as a science has been slower to adapt to this rapidly shifting world. In this Outlook we use highlights from recent literature reports to describe how progresses in enabling technologies are altering this trend, permitting chemists to incorporate new advances into their work at all levels of the chemistry development cycle. We discuss the benefits and challenges that have arisen, impacts on academic-industry relationships, and future trends in the area of chemical synthesis.

Online monitoring and analysis for autonomous continuous flow self-optimizing reactor systems

In this review the recent progress in the field of self-optimizing reactor systems for continuous flow chemistry is presented.

Regioselective routes to orthogonally-substituted aromatic MIDA boronates

A series of tetrasubstituted aromatics has been synthesized, many of which are based on elaborated N-methyliminodiacetic acid (MIDA)-boronates.

Engineering chemistry: integrating batch and flow reactions on a single, automated reactor platform

Synthesis chemistry need not be limited to either only batch or only flow; rather, in the future we expect that it will consist of an amalgamation of the best and most appropriate methods.

Flow chemistry: intelligent processing of gas-liquid transformations using a tube-in-tube reactor

CONSPECTUS: The previous decade has witnessed the expeditious uptake of flow chemistry techniques in modern synthesis laboratories, and flow-based chemistry is poised to significantly impact our approach to chemical preparation. The advantages of moving from classical batch synthesis to flow mode, in order to address the limitations of traditional approaches, particularly within the context of organic synthesis are now well established. Flow chemistry methodology has led to measurable improvements in safety and reduced energy consumption and has enabled the expansion of available reaction conditions. Contributions from our own laboratories have focused on the establishment of flow chemistry methods to address challenges associated with the assembly of complex targets through the development of multistep methods employing supported reagents and in-line monitoring of reaction intermediates to ensure the delivery of high quality target compounds. Recently, flow chemistry approaches have addressed the challenges associated with reactions utilizing reactive gases in classical batch synthesis. The small volumes of microreactors ameliorate the hazards of high-pressure gas reactions and enable improved mixing with the liquid phase. Established strategies for gas-liquid reactions in flow have relied on plug-flow (or segmented flow) regimes in which the gas plugs are introduced to a liquid stream and dissolution of gas relies on interfacial contact of the gas bubble with the liquid phase. This approach confers limited control over gas concentration within the liquid phase and is unsuitable for multistep methods requiring heterogeneous catalysis or solid supported reagents. We have identified the use of a gas-permeable fluoropolymer, Teflon AF-2400, as a simple method of achieving efficient gas-liquid contact to afford homogeneous solutions of reactive gases in flow. The membrane permits the transport of a wide range of gases with significant control of the stoichiometry of reactive gas in a given reaction mixture. We have developed a tube-in-tube reactor device consisting of a pair of concentric capillaries in which pressurized gas permeates through an inner Teflon AF-2400 tube and reacts with dissolved substrate within a liquid phase that flows within a second gas impermeable tube. This Account examines our efforts toward the development of a simple, unified methodology for the processing of gaseous reagents in flow by way of development of a tube-in-tube reactor device and applications to key C-C, C-N, and C-O bond forming and hydrogenation reactions. We further describe the application to multistep reactions using solid-supported reagents and extend the technology to processes utilizing multiple gas reagents. A key feature of our work is the development of computer-aided imaging techniques to allow automated in-line monitoring of gas concentration and stoichiometry in real time. We anticipate that this Account will illustrate the convenience and benefits of membrane tube-in-tube reactor technology to improve and concomitantly broaden the scope of gas/liquid/solid reactions in organic synthesis.

Organic synthesis: march of the machines

Organic synthesis is changing; in a world where budgets are constrained and the environmental impacts of practice are scrutinized, it is increasingly recognized that the efficient use of human resource is just as important as material use. New technologies and machines have found use as methods for transforming the way we work, addressing these issues encountered in research laboratories by enabling chemists to adopt a more holistic systems approach in their work. Modern developments in this area promote a multi-disciplinary approach and work is more efficient as a result. This Review focuses on the concepts, procedures and methods that have far-reaching implications in the chemistry world. Technologies have been grouped as topics of opportunity and their recent applications in innovative research laboratories are described.

Development of a web-based platform for studying lithiation reactions in silico

A novel integrated web-based system has been developed to rationalise and predict lithiation reactions in silico.

Porous double-layer polymer tubing for the potential use in heterogeneous continuous flow reactions

Functional polymer tubing with an OD of 1/16 or 1/8 in. was fabricated by a simple polymer coextrusion process. The tubing was made of an outer impervious polypropylene layer and an inner layer, consisting of a blend of a functional polymer, polyethylene-co-methacrylic acid, and a sacrificial polymer, polystyrene. After a simple solvent leaching step using common organic solvents, the polystyrene was removed, leaving behind a porous inner layer that contains functional carboxylic acid groups, which could then be used for the immobilization of target molecules. Solution-phase reactions using amines or isocyanates have proven successful for the immobilization of a series of small molecules and polymers. This flexible multilayered functional tubing can be easily cut to the desired length and connected via standard microfluidic fittings.

A systems approach towards an intelligent and self-controlling platform for integrated continuous reaction sequences

Performing reactions in flow can offer major advantages over batch methods. However, laboratory flow chemistry processes are currently often limited to single steps or short sequences due to the complexity involved with operating a multi-step process. Using new modular components for downstream processing, coupled with control technologies, more advanced multi-step flow sequences can be realized. These tools are applied to the synthesis of 2-aminoadamantane-2-carboxylic acid. A system comprising three chemistry steps and three workup steps was developed, having sufficient autonomy and self-regulation to be managed by a single operator.