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Harnessing Thin‐Film Continuous‐Flow Assembly Lines
Author(s) -
Britton Joshua,
Castle Jared W.,
Weiss Gregory A.,
Raston Colin L.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201602373
Subject(s) - flow chemistry , flexibility (engineering) , residence time (fluid dynamics) , nanotechnology , microreactor , construct (python library) , continuous flow , laboratory flask , thin film , flow (mathematics) , chemistry , materials science , combinatorial chemistry , computer science , organic chemistry , catalysis , biochemical engineering , engineering , physics , statistics , mathematics , geotechnical engineering , mechanics , programming language
Inspired by nature's ability to construct complex molecules through sequential synthetic transformations, an assembly line synthesis of α‐aminophosphonates has been developed. In this approach, simple starting materials are continuously fed through a thin‐film reactor where the intermediates accrue molecular complexity as they progress through the flow system. Flow chemistry allows rapid multistep transformations to occur via reaction compartmentalization, an approach not amenable to using conventional flasks. Thin film processing can also access facile in situ solvent exchange to drive reaction efficiency, and through this method, α‐aminophosphonate synthesis requires only 443 s residence time to produce 3.22 g h −1 . Assembly‐line synthesis allows unprecedented reaction flexibility and processing efficiency.