Self-optimising reactive extractions: towards the efficient development of multi-step continuous flow processes
Adam D. Clayton, Luke A. Power, William R. Reynolds, Caroline Ainsworth, David R. J. Hose, Martin F. Jones, Thomas W. Chamberlain, A. John Blacker, Richard A. Bourne
Abstract
Abstract Downstream purification of products and intermediates is essential for the development of continuous flow processes. Described herein, is a study on the use of a modular and reconfigurable continuous flow platform for the self-optimisation of reactive extractions and multi-step reaction-extraction processes. The selective extraction of one amine from a mixture of two similar amines was achieved with an optimum separation of 90%, and in this case, the black-box optimisation approach was superior to global polynomial modelling. Furthermore, this methodology was utilised to simultaneously optimise the continuous flow synthesis and work-up of N -benzyl-α-methylbenzylamine with respect to four variables, resulting in a significantly improved purity.