Microreactor technology and flow chemistry could play an important role in the development of green and sustainable synthetic processes. In this review, some recent relevant examples in the field of flash chemistry, catalysis, hazardous chemistry and continuous flow processing are described. Selected examples highlight the role that flow chemistry could play in the near future for a sustainable development.
This work demonstrates that the accurate control of the reaction parameters realized within microreactor systems allowed for a taming of the reactivity of thermally unstable intermediates such as haloalkyllithiums. The first example of effective external trapping of a reactive carbenoid such as the chloromethyllithium is described. By using microreactor systems, a continuous flow synthesis of chloro alcohols and chloro amines could be achieved with high yields. By controlling the residence time the highly reactive chloromethyllithium could be generated and reacted with electrophiles at temperatures much higher than in batch-mode and without internal quenching. The developed continuous-flow process matches the requirements for sustainability.
Tertiary butyl esters find large applications in synthetic organic chemistry. A straightforward method for the direct introduction of the tert-butoxycarbonyl group into a variety of organic compounds has been developed using flow microreactor systems. The resultant flow process was more efficient, versatile and sustainable compared to the batch.
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