Development of a modular photoreactor for the upscaling of continuous flow photochemistry
Johannes G. H. Hermens, Mathieu L. Lepage, Arjan Kloekhorst, Erik Keller, Robin Bloem, Maurice Meijer, Ben L. Feringa
Abstract
The upscaling of biphasic photochemical reactions is challenging because of the inherent constraints of liquid-gas mixing and light penetration. Using semi-permeable coaxial flow chemistry within a modular photoreactor, the photooxidation of the platform chemical furfural was scaled up to produce routinely 29 gram per day of biobased building block hydroxybutenolide, a precursor to acrylate alternatives.
Topics & Concepts
Modular designContinuous flowFlow (mathematics)Process engineeringComputer scienceBiological systemBiochemical engineeringEnvironmental scienceChemistryEngineeringMechanicsPhysicsProgramming languageBiologyInnovative Microfluidic and Catalytic Techniques InnovationOxidative Organic Chemistry ReactionsCatalytic Processes in Materials Science