A Laser Driven Flow Chemistry Platform for Scaling Photochemical Reactions with Visible Light

Abstract

Visible-light-promoted organic reactions can offer increased reactivity and selectivity via unique reaction pathways to address a multitude of practical synthetic problems, yet few practical solutions exist to employ these reactions for multikilogram production. We have developed a simple and versatile continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) equipped with a high-intensity laser to drive photochemical reactions at unprecedented rates in continuous flow, achieving kg/day throughput using a 100 mL reactor. Our approach to flow reactor design uses the Beer-Lambert law as a guideline to optimize catalyst concentration and reactor depth for maximum throughput. This laser CSTR platform coupled with the rationale for design can be applied to a breadth of photochemical reactions.