I have spoken about this area in the recent past, but some of the enhancements for flow chemistry has put some pressure on microwave engineers to push the envelope for large production scale chemistry. While batch has taken precedent, and there certainly is a place and need for that (med chem, kilo labs, scoping, etc), most will agree that microwave flow reactor development has been most discussed. With that, C-Tech industries has developed and put together some trials of their contribution to these developments. A quick look at their site will help you understand the thinking: 0.3 to 1l/hour flow with the capability of handling 250C and 30 bar of pressure and a production rate of >100 kg of product/day with an innovative way of delivering the required power to maintain a transfer over solvent and reactants moving through the piped system.
Examples of their work are easily downloadable from the website and include an article from Specialty Chemicals magazine, a case study from lab to plant, and a collaborative poster illustrating improvements in production scale and impurity profiles in Pd-mediated coupling reactions and a supported project aimed at process scale-up while minimizes and chemical method development. Developments of this nature will help sustain the technology as a choice in today’s chemical research and development. C-Tech in addition to development, has set opportunities for collaborative partnerships.
Totally Microwave 