Organocatalyzed styrene epoxidation accelerated by continuous-flow reactor

Considering the low conversion and long reaction time in scaling up reaction in batch reactor, the organocatalyzed epoxidation reaction of styrene was intensified under continuous flow conditions using a commercial fluidic reactor (Corning Advanced Flow G1 Reactor). After investigating the effect of reaction temperature, catalyst amount, MeCN/t-BuOH ratio, FO/FAB (buffer solution amount), total feed flow rate and operating mode on the epoxidation reaction, the optimal reaction conditions were identified under continuous flow conditions. Upon optimization, high conversion and excellent selectivity with short reaction time (3.17 min) can be obtained. We successfully developed a process for the rapid and continuous epoxidation of styrene using an organocatalyst with hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant. Compared with the batch conditions, the continuous flow reactor can exhibit unique advantages including high-speed, safety, continuousness and absence of amplifying effect, which will be significant for the industrial production of epoxides.