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This paper describes ideas together with preliminary experimental results for applying solvent nanofiltration to liquid phase organic synthesis reactions. Membranes for organic solvent nanofiltration have only recently (during the 1990s) become available and, to date, have been applied primarily to food processing (vegetable oil processing, in particular) and refinery processes. Applications to organic synthesis, even at a laboratory feasibility level, are few. However, these membranes have great potential to improve the environmental performance of many liquid phase synthesis reactions by reducing the need for complex solvent handling operations. Examples that are shown to be feasible are solvent exchanges, where it is desired to swap a high molecular weight molecule from one solvent to another between separate stages in a complex synthesis, and recycle and reuse of homogeneous catalysts. In solvent exchanges, nanofiltration is shown to provide a fast and effective means of swapping from a high boiling point solvent to a solvent with a lower boiling point—this is a difficult operation by means of distillation. Solvent nanofiltration is shown to be able to separate two distinct types of homogeneous catalysts, phase transfer catalysts and organometallic catalysts, from their respective reaction products. In both cases the application of organic solvent nanofiltration allows several reuses of the same catalyst. Catalyst stability is shown to be an essential requirement for this technique to be effective. Finally, we present a discussion of scale‐up aspects including membrane flux and process economics.

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This communication describes the use of nanofiltration (NF) membranes for efficient separation and recycling of phasetransfer catalysts, using the conversion of bromoheptane into iodoheptane with tetraoctylammonium bromide as the PT catalyst, as an example; a solvent flux of > 10 L m 22 h 21 was achieved with > 99% catalyst recycle and no loss in PT catalyst activity over a cycle of three consecutive reactions.

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Overall mass transfer coefficients (OMTCs) during membrane solvent extraction (MSE) for a microfiltration membrane Accurel, an organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) membrane MPF 50, and silicone rubber were investigated with a hydrophilic solute (phenol) and a hydrophobic solute (toluene) in a membrane solvent extractor. Decanol was used to extract phenol or toluene from water. In MSE of phenol from water, MPF 50 has an OMTC intermediate between Accurel and silicone rubber, and has a much higher breakthrough pressure than Accurel. For MPF 50, it was observed that the solute -membrane interaction makes a major contribution to the mass transport of hydrophobic compounds, such as toluene, through the membrane. This suggests that solution-diffusion type models may be more appropriate than pore-flow models for describing transport of solvents through these kinds of membranes.