Using a continuous flow reactor, the dehydration of Dfructose and other carbohydrates to 5-(chloromethyl)-furfural (1) is achieved in reaction times as short as 60 s. The biphasic flow process allows for high-yielding multigram scale production of CMF (1) which is obtained with excellent purity after a simple extractive work-up. Efficient conversion of D-fructose into 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (2) and levulinic acid (6) is also demonstrated using flow reactor techniques.

Controlled radical polymerization using the reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer approach (RAFT) was successfully conducted under continuous flow processing conditions, provided that steel tubing was used to prevent quenching of the radical process by oxygen. A series of different monomers, including acrylamides, acrylates, and vinyl acetate, were polymerized to high conversions (between 80 and 100%) at temperatures between 70 and 100 °C using various initiators, solvents, and RAFT agents. Low dispersities, typically between 1.15-1.20, and average molecular weights similar to those of batch RAFT polymerizations were obtained. The methodology provides a facile, alternative scale-up route to conventional batch polymerization, which can be challenging because of the oxygen-sensitive nature of the RAFT process.

Continuous flow reactor for the hydrogenation of organic substrates using novel catalytic static mixers.

Catalytic static mixers were used for the continuous flow hydrogenation of alkenes, alkynes, carbonyls, nitro-and diazo-compounds, nitriles, imines, and halides. This technique relies on tubular reactors fitted with 3D printed static mixers which are coated with a catalytic metal layer, either Pd or Ni. Additive manufacturing of the metal mixer scaffold results in maximum design flexibility and is compatible with deposition methods such as metal cold spraying which allow for mass production and linear process scale up. High to full conversion was achieved for the majority of substrates, demonstrating the flexibility and versatility of the catalytic static mixer technology. In the example of an alkyne reduction, the selectivity of the flow reactor could be directed to either yield an alkene or alkane product by simply changing the reactor pressure.