(631g) Understanding Organic Scale Deposition In Microfluidic Systems for Fine Chemical Synthesis

Active pharmaceutical intermediates (APIs) have been discovered, studied, and produced using batch processes in the laboratory and industrial settings.  However, the synthesis and production of important compounds in continuous processes can offer economic advantages and safer routes to preparation.  Moving from batch to continuous flow systems is not without challenges in real-world scenarios.  The preparation of useful compounds often requires multiple reaction and separation steps.  Additionally, the majority of reactions important to fine chemicals involve the formation of solids, which can deposit on reactor, equipment, and catalyst support surfaces.  Understanding organic scale deposition in continuous processing, a largely unaddressed issue, is the main focus of this project.

The study of reaction pathways on the micro-scale can offer advantages, including smaller amounts of reactants and solvents, significantly higher surface-to-volume ratios in the reactor, and enhanced mass- and heat-transfer characteristics.  In this work, we investigate the microfluidic deposition and dissolution of biaryl compounds commonly encountered in fine chemical synthesis in attempt to understand the molecular and physical interactions of organic compounds with the surfaces of the reactors and other process equipment.  These results will be presented and discussed.