A numbering-up metal microreactor for the high-throughput production of a commercial drug by copper catalysis

Lab Chip. 2019 Oct 9;19(20):3535-3542. doi: 10.1039/c9lc00764d.

Abstract

Microreactors are emerging as an efficient, sustainable synthetic tool compared to conventional batch reactors. Here, we present a new numbering-up metal microreactor by integrating a flow distributor and a copper catalytic module for high productivity of a commercial synthetic drug. A flow distributor and an embedded baffle disc were manufactured by CNC machining and 3D printing of stainless steel (S/S), respectively, whereas a catalytic reaction module was composed of 25 copper coiled capillaries configured in parallel. Eventually, the numbering-up microreactor system assembled with functional modules showed uniform flow distribution and high mixing efficiency regardless of clogging, and achieved high-throughput synthesis of the drug "rufinamide", an anticonvulsant medicine, via a Cu(i)-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition reaction under optimized conditions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Alkynes / chemistry
  • Azides / chemistry
  • Catalysis
  • Copper / chemistry*
  • Cycloaddition Reaction
  • Microfluidics / instrumentation
  • Microfluidics / methods*
  • Printing, Three-Dimensional
  • Stainless Steel / chemistry
  • Triazoles / chemical synthesis
  • Triazoles / chemistry*

Substances

  • Alkynes
  • Azides
  • Triazoles
  • Stainless Steel
  • Copper
  • rufinamide