Reactions at supercritical conditions: Applications and fundamentals

TLDR

Supercritical fluids possess properties that make them attractive media for chemical reactions, allowing manipulation of solvent properties, enhanced solubilities, elimination of interphase transport limitations, and integration of reaction and separation units, with applications in fuels processing, biomass conversion, biocatalysis, catalysis, environmental control, polymerization, materials synthesis, and chemical synthesis, and they are also useful for fundamental investigations of intermolecular interactions. The review examines chemical reactions in and with supercritical fluids. The authors discuss fundamental studies and applications of reactions at supercritical conditions, focusing on work published after 1985.

Abstract

Abstract Supercritical fluids posses properties that make them attractive as media for chemical reactions. Conducting chemical reactions at supercritical conditions affords opportunities to manipulate the reaction environment (solvent properties) by manipulating pressure, to enhance the solubilities of reactants and products, to eliminate interphase transport limitations on reaction rates, and to integrate reaction and separation unit operations. Supercritical conditions may be advantageous for reactions involved in fuels processing, biomass conversion, biocatalysis, homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, environmental control, polymerization, materials synthesis, and chemical synthesis. Moreover, supercritical fluids can be used profitably in fundamental chemical investigations of intermolecular interactions and their influence on chemical processes. Work on chemical reactions in and with supercritical fluids is reviewed. We discuss both fundamental studies and applications of reactions at supercritical conditions, with focus on work published after 1985.