Search

This article describes the results of a modeling study performed to understand the microwave heating process in continuous-flow reactors. It demonstrates the influence of liquid velocity profiles on temperature and microwave energy dissipation in a microwave integrated milli reactor-heat exchanger. Horizontal cocurrent flow of a strong microwave absorbing reaction mixture (ethanol + acetic acid, molar ratio 5:1) and a microwave transparent coolant (toluene) was established in a Teflon supported quartz tube (i.d.: 3 × 10−3 m and o.d.: 4 × 10−3 m) and shell (i.d.: 7 × 10−3 m and o.d.: 9 × 10−3 m), respectively. Modeling showed that the temperature rise of the highly microwave absorbing reaction mixture was up to four times higher in the almost stagnant liquid at the reactor walls than in the bulk liquid. The coolant flow was ineffective in controlling the outlet reaction mixture temperature. However, at high flow rates it limits the overheating of the stagnant liquid film of the reaction mixture at the reactor walls. It was also found that the stagnant layer around a fiber optic temperature probe, when inserted from the direction of the flow, resulted in much higher temperatures than the bulk liquid. This was not the case when the probe was inserted from the opposite direction. The experimental validations of these modeling results proved that the temperature profiles depend more on the reaction mixture velocity profiles than on the microwave energy dissipation/electric field intensity. Thus, in flow synthesis, particularly where a focused microwave field is applied over a small tubular flow reactor, it is very important to understand the large (direct/indirect) influence of reactor internals on the microwave heating process. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 60: 3824–3832, 2014

A continuously operated microwave heated millireactor setup has been developed for performing reactions of highly microwave absorbing media in a controlled and energy efficient manner. The setup consists of a tubular reactor integrated with a heat exchanger. A microwave transparent liquid was used as coolant to extract the excess heat from the reaction mixture, thus controlling the temperature of the reaction mixture by avoiding overshoots and subsequent boiling. A reactor-heat exchanger shell and tube unit with a diameter of the inner tube of 3·10−3 m and a shell of 7·10−3 m inner diameter has been manufactured in quartz. The unit size was defined based on simulation with a heat-transfer model for the microwave cavity part. Microwave heating was incorporated as a volumetric heating source term using the temperature-dependent dielectric properties of the liquid. Model predictions were validated with measurements for a range of 0.167·10−6 to 1.67·10−6 m3/s flow rates of coolant. The outlet temperature of both the reaction mixture and the coolant, were predicted accurately (tolerance of 3 K), and the process window was determined. The model for the reactor part provided the required length of the reactor for a hetero-geneously catalyzed esterification reaction. The predicted conversions, based on the obtained temperature profile in the reactor packed with the catalyst bed, known residence times and kinetics of the esterification reaction, were found to be in good agreement with the experimental results. Efficient utilization of microwave energy with heat recovery up to 20% of the total absorbed microwave power and heating efficiencies up to 96% were achieved. It has been demonstrated that the microwave heating combined with millireactor flow processing provides controlled and energy efficient operation thus making it a viable option for a fine chemical production scale of 1 kg/day (24 h period). © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 58: 3144–3155, 2012

The combination of milli-scale processing and microwave heating has been investigated for the Cu-catalyzed Ullmann etherification in fine-chemical synthesis, providing improved catalytic activity and selective catalyst heating. Wall-coated and fixed-bed milli-reactors were designed and applied in the Cu-catalyzed Ullmann-type C O coupling of phenol and 4-chloropyridine. In a batch reactor the results show clearly increased yields for the microwave heated process at low microwave powers, whereas high powers and catalyst loadings reduced the benefits of microwave heating. Slightly higher yields were found in the Cu/ZnO wall-coated as compared to the Cu/TiO2 fixed-bed flow-reactor. The benefit here is that the reaction occurs at the surface of the metal nanoparticles confined within a support film making the nano-copper equally accessible. Catalyst deactivation was mainly caused by Cu oxidation and coke formation; however, at longer process times leaching played a significant role. Catalyst activity could partially be recovered by removal of deposited by-product by means of calcination. After 6 h on-stream the reactor productivities were 28.3 and 55.1 kg prod / ( m R 3 h ) for the fresh Cu/ZnO wall-coated and Cu/TiO2 fixed-bed reactor, respectively. Comparison of single- and multimode microwaves showed a threefold yield increase for single-mode microwaves. Control of nanoparticles size and loading allows to avoid high temperatures in a single-mode microwave field and provides a novel solution to a major problem for combining metal catalysis and microwave heating. Catalyst stability appeared to be more important and provided twofold yield increase for the CuZn/TiO2 catalyst as compared to the Cu/TiO2 catalyst due to stabilized copper by preferential oxidation of the zinc. For this catalyst a threefold yield increase was observed in single-mode microwaves which, to the best of our knowledge, led to a not yet reported productivity of 172 kg prod / ( m R 3 h ) for the microwave and flow Ullmann C O coupling.

A vacuum microwave-assisted dehydration process of orthophosphoric acid for preparation of polyphosphoric acid was studied in comparison with the conventional dehydration in terms of energy efficiency and process rates. The influence of the applied microwave-power input on the process duration and the efficiency of microwave process were examined. The optimal microwave power input provided twofold shortening of the process time compared to conventional heating. At the same time the energy efficiencies remained comparable for both heating modes which was caused by nonoptimal filling ratio of the microwave cavity. The perspectives of the process scale-up in terms of increasing energy efficiency were also discussed.

An extended cost study consisting of 14 process scenarios was carried out to envisage the cost impact of microprocessing and microwaves separately or in combination for two liquid-phase model reactions in fine-chemicals synthesis: (1) Ullmann C–O cross-coupling reaction and (2) the aspirin synthesis. The former, a Cu-catalyzed substitution reaction, was based on an experimental investigation, whereas the latter, a noncatalyzed aromatic esterification reaction, was based on literature data. The cost of 4-phenoxypyridine production, as a pharmaceutical intermediate in the synthesis of vancomycin or vancocin, was compared with that of the synthesis of aspirin, a key example of large-scale fine-chemical production plants. The operating costs in the Ullmann synthesis were found to be related to materialbased process (reactant excess, pretreatment, and catalyst synthesis), whereas those in the aspirin synthesis appeared to be related to downstream-based process (workup, waste treatment). The impact of an integrated microwave heating and microprocessing system on profitability was demonstrated with respect to operational cost and chemical productivity. Different modes of microwave heating and catalyst supply were studied and compared with conventional oilbath-heated systems in batch and continuous processes. The overall costs including profitability breakthrough for a competitive market price of product were obtained from various combinations of heating and processing. In case of the Ullmann synthesis, the CAPEX (capital expenditure) was negligible compared to the OPEX (operational expenditure), whereas in the aspirin synthesis, the CAPEX was found around 40%, both at a production scales of 1–10 kg/day using proposed upscale methods. The source of the catalyst strongly determined the profitability of a continuously operated Ullmann process due to its effect on the chemical performance. Higher energy efficiencies could be attained using single-mode microwave irradiation; however, the energy contribution to the overall cost was found to be negligible. Different scenarios provided a cost-feasible and profitable process; nevertheless, an integrated microwave heating and microflow processing led to a cost-efficient system using a micropacked-bed reactor in comparison to wall-coated microreactor, showing a profit margin of 20%.

The action of nanoparticulate copper catalysts with a mean particle size of 10 nm in the Ullmann ether synthesis is reported using multimode microwave heating and employing stable chloropyridine salts and unactivated phenol, with stabilized copper nanoparticles outperforming other copper catalysts in terms of stability and reusability.

The racemization of N-acetylindoline-2-carboxylic acid in p-xylene revealed beneficial rate enhancements due to microwave effects, by comparing conventional and microwave heating. The magnitude of this effect was governed by the degree of heterogeneity of the reaction system. The amount of catalyst, the temperature and the amount of cosolvent played a decisive role. The microwave effect completely vanished when a homogeneous solution was heated. During the microwave-assisted heterogeneous racemization of N-acetylphenylalanine in p-xylene a comparable microwave effect was observed. The microwave effects could be rationalized by adapting selective heating in the phase boundary region of solid and liquid. Additionally, a straightforward translation was achieved from batchwise operation in a stirred reactor to a batch-loop reactor. The (heterogeneous) racemization of N-acetylindoline-2-carboxylic acid retained its microwave effect in the loop reactor. Our results demonstrated that avoiding plugging of the tubular reactor is a severe challenge in scaling up.

Novozym 435-catalyzed ring-opening of a range of omega-methylated lactones demonstrates fascinating differences in rate of reaction and enantioselectivity. A switch from S- to R-selectivity was observed upon going from small (ring sizesor=7) to large lactones (ring sizesor=8). This was attributed to the transition from a cisoid to a transoid conformational preference of the ester bond on going from small to large lactones. The S-selectivity of the ring-opening of the small, cisoid lactones was low to moderate, while the R-selectivity of the ring-opening of the large transoid lactones was surprisingly high. The S-selectivity of the ring-opening of the small, cisoid lactones combined with the established R-selectivity of the transesterification of (aliphatic) secondary alcohols prevented polymerization from taking place. Ring-opening of the large, transoid lactones was R-selective with high enantioselectivity. As a result, these lactones could be polymerized, without exception, by straightforward kinetic resolution polymerization, yielding the enantiopure R-polyester with excellent enantiomeric excess (99%).

A consistent setup of experiments has been conducted to demonstrate an enhanced reaction rate under microwave irradiation as compared to conventional heating, i.e. a real microwave effect. It was found that addition of a cosolvent, diminishing the heterogeneous character of the reaction mixture, greatly reduced the microwave effect. This was demonstrated by two examples; selective mono-urea formation and racemization of an N-acetylamino acid. Furthermore, formation of a Grignard reagent was accelerated under MW irradiation by electrostatic etching of the metal surface. The microwave effect observed in these reactions seems to rely on heterogeneity and specific interactions on the solid–liquid interface. Basic understanding of these findings is crucial for scaling up microwave assisted processes.

Dynamic kinetic resolution (DKR) of a series of secondary alcohols has been conducted with a novel dinuclear ruthenium complex, bearing tetrafluorosuccinate and (rac)-BINAP ligands as the racemization catalyst. Novozym 435 has been used as the enzyme, and isopropyl butyrate as the acyl donor. Five substrates underwent DKR successfully: an aliphatic and an aromatic secondary alcohol, an aromatic alcohol with an electron-withdrawing substituent on the phenyl ring, an aromatic alcohol bearing an electron-donating substituent on the ring and a heteroaromatic secondary alcohol. The catalyst performed optimally at 70 °C. Typically the reaction reached complete conversion within 1 day with 0.1 mol % of racemization catalyst relative to the substrate. The addition of the ketone corresponding to the substrate stabilizes the active Ru complex and, therefore, increases the rate of the reaction.

The conventional way of scaling up a contact drying process includes a pilot-scale step. Scaling up from lab scale to production scale without the use of a pilot plant saves time and money. A method has been developed to perform a scale-up from a 200-g bench-scale Rotavap drying process to production scale (approximately 1000 kg). A mathematical model, an improvement on the so-called Schlünder model, has been developed to simulate bench-scale drying processes. This simulation is used to determine the unknown mixing parameters by regression analysis. Besides the heat transfer resistances predicted by Schlünder an additional resistance term was found which is product dependent and can also be determined by regression. Ultimately the model can be used to predict the drying curve on production scale. In five out of eight cases the developed method accurately predicted drying behaviour. In three remaining cases the model did not apply due to extreme stickiness or aggregation during drying.

RuCl 2 [ S -BINAP] catalyzed dehydrogenation of alcohols into aldehydes or ketones has been investigated. Among many H-acceptors screened, diphenylacetylene (tolane) was the most suitable judged from its smooth reduction. Electron rich and deficient analogues of tolane have been synthesized. Based on competition experiments between these H-acceptors a tentative catalytic cycle for the RuCl 2 [ S -BINAP] catalyzed dehydrogenations is proposed.

The objective of this study was the design of a scalable process for the synthesis of 3-4 mol of a-terthienyl from 2,5-dibromothiophene and thienylmagnesium bromide in a 10-L stirred tank reactor. In THF the Grignard reagent, thienylmagnesium bromide, was readily formed from 2-bromothiophene and magnesium. To avoid crystn. the maximal concn. was limited to 1.4 M. Furthermore, the novel combination of THF and NiCl2[bis(diphenylphosphino)benzene] allows for fast double coupling of the Grignard reagent with 2,5-dibromothiophene. The concn. of catalyst could be limited to 0.5 mol% based on the amt. of 2,5-dibromothiophene. An adapted workup procedure was developed, in which n-octane was used to sep. the magnesium salts from the desired product. The reaction was performed in a (semi)batch-wise operated reactor. A global model for the coupling step proved to predict the results at 0.1-, 1-, and 10-L scales very accurately. The heat of reaction evolved in the coupling step was valorized and could be handled easily. Mixing of the feed stream and the reactor content proved to be another important factor in the scaling-up of the a-terthienyl synthesis. [on SciFinder (R)]

The two-step synthesis of (2S)-2-(tetrahydropyran-2-yloxy)propane-1-ol was selected for fine chemical scale-up. The first step, an acid-catalyzed protection of ethyl (S)(−)-lactate with 3,4-dihydro-2H-pyran, could be performed without solvent. The reaction enthalpy was determined to be −48 kJ/mol ethyl (S)(−)-lactate, ensuring safe scale-up. The crude reaction mixture was used in the second step, the hydride reduction. For the reduction of the protected ester a clear solution of 1 M LiAlH4 in THF was used. The reaction enthalpy was determined to be −313 kJ/mol ethyl (2S)-2-(tetrahydropyran-2-yloxy)propionate, and the work-up was optimised with experimental design techniques. Combination of all experimental and theoretical results resulted in a master recipe for a 10-dm3 scale synthesis of (2S)-2-(tetrahydropyran-2-yloxy)propane-1-ol.

A feasibility study in state-of-the-art multi- and monomode microwave cavities was conducted to outline important functionalities necessary in a microwave setup for continuous fine-chemicals synthesis. For multimode operation, the heating efficiency depends on the position as well as on the volume distribution of the load. For monomode operation, the heating efficiency does not depend on the axial position and has a maximum with respect to the load diameter. Based on this study, a microwave setup consisting of four cavities was designed and constructed. The setup provided a defined microwave field pattern and allowed focusing of the microwave power. A near-uniform distribution of microwave energy in all four cavities of the setup was achieved at reduced grid to applicator losses.

The synthesis of tris-O-dodecyl-gallic acid [3,4,5-tris(dodecyloxy)benzoic acid] - a versatile building block for org. liq. cryst. materials - has been selected for fine chem. scale-up. A large-scale procedure of the alkylation of Me gallate with dodecyl bromide was optimized with exptl. design techniques. Apart from the solvent effect, the temp., phase-transfer catalyst, stirring speed, and amt. of base were found to be most significant for the reaction rate. Reaction calorimetry revealed no excessive exothermic reaction steps in the process. Reaction kinetics on the alkylation reaction was studied as a function of particle size distribution of the base, potassium carbonate, and formation of carbon dioxide. Combination of all exptl. results has debouched into a master recipe for kilogram-scale synthesis in a 10 dm3 fully automated (semi)batchwise operated reactor. [on SciFinder (R)]

A scaleable process for the chlorination of 5-amino-2,4,6-triiodoisophthalic acid to the corresponding acid chloride, a building block for the synthesis of iodinated X-ray contrast agents, has been developed. Two dimeric byproducts have been isolated and assigned structures consistent with an amide and an anhydride. Hydrolysis of the N-sulfinyl intermediate and simultaneous crystallisation of the phthalic acid chloride have been optimised by applying fractional factorial design.

Racemic omega-substituted caprolactones can be completely converted into chiral polyesters of remarkable MW and high ee by combining lipase-catalyzed ring-opening polymerization with Ru-catalyzed racemization.

The catalytic dehydrogenation of alcohols into aldehydes and ketones in the absence of H-acceptors was studied with several transition metal catalysts in order to develop a large-scale procedure. Applying Ru(OCOCF3)2(CO)(PPh3)2, the so called Robinson catalyst, several secondary alcohols could be dehydrogenated with high selectivity into the corresponding ketones in relatively short reaction times. Highly effective atom utilization could be realized avoiding solvents and giving hydrogen gas as the sole by-product. However, in contrast to Robinson's work the catalytic dehydrogenation of primary alcohols appeared to be problematic due to decarbonylation with concomitant catalyst deactivation and aldol condensation under the strong acid or basic conditions applied.

A μ(2)-process in the Ullmann-type C-O coupling of potassium phenolate and 4-chloropyridine was successfully performed in a combined microwave (MW) and microflow process. Selective MW absorption in a micro-fixed-bed reactor (μ-FBR) by using a supported Cu nanocatalyst resulted in an increased activity compared to an oil-bath heated process. Yields of up to 80 % were attained by using a multisegmented μ-FBR without significant catalyst deactivation. The μ-FBR was packed with beads coated with Cu/TiO(2) and CuZn/TiO(2) catalysts. Temperature measurements along axial positions of the reactor were performed by using a fiber-optic probe in the catalyst bed. The simultaneous application of MW power and temperature sensors resulted in an isothermal reactor at 20 W. Initially, only solvent was used to adjust the MW field density in the cavity and optimize the power utility. Subsequently, the reaction mixture was added to ensure the maximum MW power transfer by adjusting the waveguide stub tuners to steady-state operations as a result of the changed reaction mixture composition and, therefore, the dielectric properties. Finally, the beneficial influence of the Cu/TiO(2)- and CuZn/TiO(2)-coated glass beads (200 μm) on the MW absorption as a result of the additional absorbing effect of the metallic Cu nanoparticles was optimized in a fine-tuning step. For the catalyst synthesis, various sol-gel, deposition, and impregnation methods provided Cu catalyst loadings of around 1 wt %. The addition of Zn to the Cu nanocatalyst revealed an increased catalyst activity owing to the presence of stable Cu(0). Multilaminar mixing was necessary because of the large difference in fluid viscosities. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first extended experimental survey of the decisive parameters to combine microprocess and single-mode MW technology following the concepts of "novel process windows" for organic syntheses.

New routes for the preparation of highly active TiO(2)-supported Cu and CuZn catalysts have been developed for C-O coupling reactions. Slurries of a titania precursor were dip-coated onto glass beads to obtain either structured mesoporous or non-porous titania thin films. The Cu and CuZn nanoparticles, synthesized using a reduction by solvent method, were deposited onto calcined films to obtain a Cu loading of 2 wt%. The catalysts were characterized by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) spectroscopy, temperature-programmed oxidation/reduction (TPO/TPR) techniques, (63)Cu nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning and transmission electron microscopy (S/TEM-EDX) and X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS). The activity and stability of the catalysts obtained have been studied in the C-O Ullmann coupling of 4-chloropyridine and potassium phenolate. The titania-supported nanoparticles retained catalyst activity for up to 12 h. However, catalyst deactivation was observed for longer operation times due to oxidation of the Cu nanoparticles. The oxidation rate could be significantly reduced over the CuZn/TiO(2) catalytic films due to the presence of Zn. The 4-phenoxypyridine yield was 64% on the Cu/nonporous TiO(2) at 120 °C. The highest product yield of 84% was obtained on the Cu/mesoporous TiO(2) at 140 °C, corresponding to an initial reaction rate of 104 mmol g(cat) (-1) s(-1). The activation energy on the Cu/mesoporous TiO(2) catalyst was found to be (144±5) kJ mol(-1), which is close to the value obtained for the reaction over unsupported CuZn nanoparticles (123±3 kJ mol(-1)) and almost twice the value observed over the catalysts deposited onto the non-porous TiO(2) support (75±2 kJ mol(-1)).

Microwave-irradiated and conventionally heated nucleophilic additions of various C-6 substituted isocytosines (methyl, ethyl, isopropyl, and phenyl) to (di)isocyanates have been compared. As compared to conventional heating, the heterogeneous reaction mixtures showed higher reaction rates on using microwave heating. Variation of C-6 substituent, temperature, and amount of cosolvent influenced significantly the magnitude of these microwave effects. The magnitude of the microwave effect was governed by the solubility and the intrinsic reactivity of the variation in C-6 substitution on isocytosine. Presumably, the liquid layer near the solid surface is the area where selective heating by microwaves is occurring. As a consequence of locally higher temperatures, the solubility of the reactant as well as the rate coefficient of the reaction increase. Thus, higher reaction rates are observed than those corresponding with the measured bulk temperature. The observed microwave effects have a thermal rationale based on direct, fast, and selective heating, and the local heating effect is not found during conventional heating. This finding is crucial for a justified process scale-up scenario.

Due to its relevance in the synthesis of well-defined oligopeptides, the l-leucine-N-carboxyanhydride (leucine-NCA) synthesis was selected for fine chemical scale-up with a scope on application on larger scales. The heterogeneous gas-solid-liquid nature of the leucine-NCA synthesis implied a mass transfer limited reaction rate towards phosgenation and was investigated on bench scale. Upon scale increase, the liquid-gas mass transport of HCl is drastically reduced, retarding the reaction and consequently rendering the process unsuitable for scale-up. Addition of an HCl scavenger such as (+)-limonene prevented side reactions thus allowing a cost reduction, a considerably faster reaction, and minimization of the amount of phosgene source used. The modified leucine-NCA synthesis has successfully been made scalable, maintaining high product purity on a 1.0 dm3 scale.

Dehydrogenation of alcs. into aldehydes and ketones by Ru3(CO)12/PPh3 based homogeneous catalysis has been investigated as an alternative for the classical Oppenauer oxidn. Several catalytic systems have been screened in the Oppenauer-like oxidn. of alcs. A systematic study of various combinations of Ru3(CO)12, mono- and bidentate ligands and hydride acceptors was performed to enable dehydrogenation of primary alcs. to stop at the aldehyde stage. Among many H-acceptors screened, diphenylacetylene (tolane) proved the most suitable judged from its smooth redn. Electron rich and deficient analogs of tolane have been synthesized and, based on competition expts. between these H-acceptors, a tentative catalytic cycle for the Ru3(CO)12/PPh3-catalyzed dehydrogenations has been proposed. The crystal and mol. structures of a ruthenium-triphenylphosphine-tolane adduct [i.e., dicarbonyl[(2,3,4,5-h)-2,3,4,5-tetraphenyl-2,4-cyclopentadien-1-one](triphenylphosphine)ruthenium] were reported. [on SciFinder (R)]

A detailed study regarding the influence of microwave irradiation on the formation of a series of Grignard reagents in terms of rates and selectivities has revealed that these heterogeneous reactions may display a beneficial microwave effect. The interaction between microwaves and magnesium turnings generates violent electrostatic discharges. These discharges on magnesium lead to melting of the magnesium surface, thus generating highly active magnesium particles. As compared to conventional operation the microwave-induced discharges on the magnesium surface lead to considerably shorter initiation times for the insertion of magnesium in selected substrates (i.e. halothiophenes, halopyridines, octyl halides, and halobenzenes). Thermographic imaging and surface characterization by scanning electron microscopy showed that neither selective heating nor a "specific" microwave effect was causing the reduction in initiation times. This novel and straightforward initiation method eliminates the use of toxic and environmentally adverse initiators. Thus, this initiation method limits the formation of by-products. We clearly demonstrated that microwave irradiation enables fast Grignard reagent formation. Therefore, microwave technology is promising for process intensification of Grignard based coupling reactions.

The spectroscopic and chiroptical properties of the title compound 1 has been predicted and interpreted by a quantum mechanical approach using the CNDO-CI modification of Del Bene and Jaffe. The calculated rotational strength of the longest wavelength transitions according to the method of Hug and Wagniere suggests left-handed chirality for levorotatory 1 . The assignment is in agreement with previous work. In addition, the same computational method has been employed for spiro[4.4]nona-1,6-diene ( 2 ) and spiro[4.4]nonatetraene ( 3 ).