Knoevenagel condensation reaction in a membrane microreactor

Abstract

A multi-channel membrane microreactor was fabricated and tested for Knoevenagel condensation of benzaldehyde and ethyl cyanoacetate using Cs-exchanged faujasite NaX as the catalyst; the membrane microreactor achieves supra-eqiulibrium conversion at higher product purity.

Chemical reaction engineering, process design and scale-up issues at the frontier of synthesis: Flow chemistry

“…The catalyst employed was a Cs-exchanged faujasite NaX as an example of heterogeneous basic catalyst, improving the system applicability due to catalyst immobilisation. Furthermore, the use of a membrane microreactor allowed the continuous removal of water with consequent better product purity and final yield above the equilibrium conversion in batch mode [44].…”

Amino-functionalized Ionic Liquid as an Efficient and Recyclable Catalyst for Knoevenagel Reactions in Water

“…Typically, Knoevenagel condensation between these substrates is considered to be an equilibrium-limited reaction and the water thus formed should be continuously removed by azeotropic distillation [23]. Recently, Knoevenagel condensation between benzaldehyde and ethyl cyanoacetate has been investigated using a membrane microreactor [24]. The presence of the miniature membrane enables continuous and selective removal of water during the reaction and resulted in an improved conversion over 85%.…”

Zeolites as Catalysts for the Synthesis of Fine Chemicals

“…The Knoevenagel condensation between benzaldehyde and ethyl cyanoacetate has also been investigated in the microreactor and a membrane microreactor using a Cs-exchanged zeolite X catalyst coated on the microchannel [225][226][227]. Both types of microreactors achieved better conversion than the conventional packed-bed reactor and packed-bed membrane.…”