Flash chemistry: fast chemical synthesis by using microreactors

This concept article provides a brief outline of the concept of flash chemistry for carrying out extremely fast reactions in organic synthesis by using microreactors. Generation of highly reactive species is one of the key elements of flash chemistry. Another important element of flash chemistry is the control of extremely fast reactions to obtain the desired products selectively. Fast reactions are usually highly exothermic, and heat removal is an important factor in controlling such reactions. Heat transfer occurs very rapidly in microreactors by virtue of a large surface area per unit volume, making precise temperature control possible. Fast reactions often involve highly unstable intermediates, which decompose very quickly, making reaction control difficult. The residence time can be greatly reduced in microreactors, and this feature is quite effective in controlling such reactions. For extremely fast reactions, kinetics often cannot be used because of the lack of homogeneity of the reaction environment when they are conducted in conventional reactors such as flasks. Fast mixing using micromixers solves such problems. The concept of flash chemistry has been successfully applied to various organic reactions including a) highly exothermic reactions that are difficult to control in conventional reactors, b) reactions in which a reactive intermediate easily decomposes in conventional reactors, c) reactions in which undesired byproducts are produced in the subsequent reactions in conventional reactors, and d) reactions whose products easily decompose in conventional reactors. The concept of flash chemistry can be also applied to polymer synthesis. Cationic polymerization can be conducted with an excellent level of molecular-weight control and molecular-weight distribution control.     

Synthesis of (+)-dumetorine and congeners by using flow chemistry technologies

An efficient total synthesis of the natural alkaloid (+)-dumetorine by using flow technology is described. The process entailed five separate steps starting from the enantiopure (S)-2-(piperidin-2-yl)ethanol 4 with 29% overall yield. Most of the reactions were carried out by exploiting solvent superheating and by using packed columns of immobilized reagents or scavengers to minimize handling. New protocols for performing classical reactions under continuous flow are disclosed: the ring-closing metathesis reaction with a novel polyethylene glycol-supported Hoveyda catalyst and the unprecedented flow deprotection/Eschweiler-Clarke methylation sequence. The new protocols developed for the synthesis of (+)-dumetorine were applied to the synthesis of its simplified natural congeners (-)-sedamine and (+)-sedridine.     

A Continuous Flow Process Using a Sequence of Microreactors with In‐line IR Analysis for the Preparation of N,N‐Diethyl‐4‐(3‐fluorophenylpiperidin‐4‐ylidenemethyl)benzamide as a Potent and Highly Selective δ‐Opioid Receptor Agonist

This article describes the design, optimisation and development of a continuous flow synthesis of N,N‐diethyl‐4‐(3‐fluorophenylpiperidin‐4‐ylidenemethyl)benzamide, a potent δ‐opioid receptor agonist developed by AstraZeneca. The process employs a sequence of flow‐based microreactors, with integrated purification employing solid‐supported reagents and in‐line IR analytical protocols using a newly developed ReactIR flow cell. With this monitoring device, initiation of the fourth input flow stream can be precisely controlled during the synthesis.     

Deciding whether to go with the flow: evaluating the merits of flow reactors for synthesis

The fine chemicals and pharmaceutical industries are transforming how their products are manufactured, where economically favorable, from traditional batchwise processes to continuous flow. This evolution is impacting synthetic chemistry on all scales-from the laboratory to full production. This Review discusses the relative merits of batch and micro flow reactors for performing synthetic chemistry in the laboratory.     

Synthesis and applications in Henry reactions of novel chiral thiazoline tridentate ligands

Several novel chiral tridentate ligands containing thiazoline were efficiently synthesized from commercially available l=cysteine in high yield. These ligands were subsequently applied to the asymmetric Henry reaction of nitromethane and various aldehydes. It was found that the structures of the thiazoline ligands had a significant influence on the enantioselectivity. It was shown that the optimal catalyst for this reaction was a ligand complexed with CuCl, which was formed from chiral thiazoline with chiral aminoalcohol. At ?20°C, with 10 mol% of this ligand, a product with (S)‐configuration was isolated in 93% yield and 98% enantiomeric excess. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A novel electrosynthetic system for anodic substitution reactions by using parallel laminar flow in a microflow reactor

We have developed a novel electrosynthetic system for anodic substitution reactions by using parallel laminar flow in a microflow reactor. This system enables nucleophilic reactions to overcome the restraint, such as the oxidation potential of nucleophiles and the stability of cationic intermediates, by the combined use of ionic liquids as reaction media and the parallel laminar flow in the microflow reactor. By using this novel electrosynthetic system, the anodic substitution reaction of carbamates, especially of cyclic carbamates, with allyltrimethylsilane were carried out to provide the corresponding products in moderate to good conversion yields in a single flow-through operation at ambient temperature (without the need for low-temperature conditions).     

Diastereoselective reactions at enantiomerically pure, sterically congested cyclohexanes as an entry to wailupemycins A and B: total synthesis of (+)-wailupemycin B

Wailupemycin A (1) and B (2) are polyketide natural products with a highly substituted cyclohexanone core. Three different routes for the syntheses of these compounds were pursued, which commenced from either (R)-(-)-carvone (ent-5) or (S)-(+)-carvone (5). In the first approach it was attempted to construct the skeleton of wailupemycin A from triol 19 (nine steps from ent-5; 19 % yield) by a sequence of diastereoselective epoxidation, nucleophilic ring opening at C-13 and carbonyl addition at C-5. The synthetic plan failed at the stage of the carbonyl addition to aldehyde 27, which had been obtained in seven steps (18 % yield) from triol 19. The second route included an epoxide ring opening at C-13 and a carbonyl addition at C-7 as key steps. It could have led to either wailupemycin A or B depending on the diastereoselectivity of the addition step. Starting from allylic alcohol 30 (six steps from ent-5; 59 % yield) the cyclohexanone 28 was obtained in five steps (54 % yield). Unfortunately, the carbonyl addition failed also in this instance. In the eventually successful third attempt the skeleton of wailupemycin B was built from cyclohexanone 43 (eight steps from 5; 53 % yield) by highly diastereoselective carbonyl addition reactions at C-7 and C-12. The phenyl group at C-14 was introduced at a late stage of the synthetic sequence. Careful protecting group manipulation finally allowed for the total synthesis of (+)-wailupemycin B. The absolute and relative configuration of the natural product was unambiguously confirmed. The total yield of wailupemycin B amounted to 6 % over 23 steps starting from (S)-(+)-carvone (5).     

A Visible-Light-Powered Polymerization Method for the Immobilization of Enantioselective Organocatalysts into Microreactors

A versatile one-step photopolymerization approach for the immobilization of enantioselective organocatalysts is presented. Chiral organocatalyst-containing monoliths based on polystyrene divinylbenzene copolymer were generated inside channels of microfluidic chips. Exemplary performance tests were performed for the monolithic Hayashi–Jørgensen catalyst in continuous flow, which showed good results for the Michael addition of aldehydes to nitroalkenes in terms of stereoselectivity and catalyst stability with minimal consumption of reagents and solvents.     

Desymmetrisation of a centrosymmetric molecule by carbon-carbon bond formation: asymmetric aldol reactions of a centrosymmetric dialdehyde

The desymmetrisation of centrosymmetric molecules by enantioselective carbon-carbon bond formation has been reported for the first time. A bimetallic zinc catalyst developed by Trost was exploited in the desymmetrisation of a centrosymmetric dialdehyde. The approach was successful with a range of ketone nucleophiles and was uniformly highly diastereoselective (>98:<2). The yield and the enantioselectivity of the reaction varied as a function of the ketone used, and the desymmetrised products were obtained in up to 74 % yield and 97 % ee (ee=enantiomeric excess). The desymmetrisation of centrosymmetric molecules by enantioselective carbon-carbon bond formation is an efficient and convergent synthetic approach which is likely to find wide application in synthesis, particularly in the total synthesis of natural products with embedded centrosymmetric fragments.