Flow Chemistry Asia 2023 Agenda

Conference Registration, Materials Pick-Up, Coffee and Tea in the Exhibit Hall

Mid-Morning Coffee and Tea Break and Networking in the Exhibit Hall

Rapid and Column-Chromatography-Free Flow-Peptide Chain Elongation
Shinichiro Fuse, Professor, Nagoya University, Japan

Peptides have become increasingly important as drugs. In this study, we developed rapid, mild and column-free peptide chain elongation via one-flow, three-component coupling approach using amino acid N-carboxy anhydride (NCA) which has both nucleophilicity and electrophilicity. The key to success was the rapid generation of acid chloride from amino acid and its rapid coupling with NCA via rapid dual activation.

Rapid Formation of Multi-layer Microcapsule in Microflow
Takaichi Watanabe, Research Associate Professor, Okayama University, Japan

We present formation of multi-layer microcapsules using a simple emulsion drop formed in microflow.

Networking Luncheon in the Exhibit Hall -- Network with Exhibitors, View Posters and Engage with Colleagues. **Lunch is Japanese Bento**

Sustainable Chemical Synthesis of High Added-Value Compounds from Renewable Sources in Flow Regime
Julio Cezar Pastre, Associate Professor, University of Campinas – UNICAMP, Brazil

Raw materials from renewable sources, as well as agro-industrial waste, represent an attractive source of useful chemical functionalities. Our research group has already identified continuous flow processing as a fundamental technology for the valorization of such materials. Flow chemistry offers unique opportunities for the conversion of biomass derivatives into chemical compounds with higher-added value, since it brings numerous advantages in terms of unique process experience, scalability, and reduced environmental footprint. In this context, we will present our efforts for the synthesis of platform molecules (such as furanics) and new chemicals (monomers, nitrogenated aromatics) from biomass derivatives.

For some representative works, please see:
Marçon, H. M.; Pastre, J. C. “Continuous flow Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley reduction of HMF and Furfural using basic zirconium carbonate”. RSC Advances 2022, 12, 7980-7989.

Galaverna, R.; Fernandes, L. P.; Browne, D. L.; Pastre, J. C. “Continuous Flow Processing as a Tool for the Generation of Terpene-Derived Monomer Libraries”. Reac. Chem. Eng. 2019, 4, 362-367.

Galaverna, R.; Ribessi, R. L.; Rohwedder, J. J. R.; Pastre, J. C. “Coupling Continuous Flow Microreactors to MicroNIR Spectroscopy: Ultra-Compact Device for the Facile In-line Reaction Monitoring”. Org. Process Res. Dev. 2018, 22, 780-788.

Galaverna, R.; Breitkreitz, M. C.; Pastre, J. C. “Conversion of D-Fructose to 5-(Hydroxymethyl)furfural: Evaluating Batch and Continuous Flow conditions by Design of Experiments and In-line FT-IR Monitoring”. ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2018, 6, 4220-4230.

Fundamentals and Research Progress of Photochemical Microreaction Technology
Yuanhai Su, Professor, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

The research progress of our group in photochemical microreaction technology will be introduced, focusing on the design and construction strategies of photomicroreactors and its applications in synthesis of high-value chemicals associated with mass transfer, reaction kinetics and automatic control studies.

Mid-Afternoon Coffee and Tea Break and Networking in the Exhibit Hall

Contributions of Reaction Engineering Towards Efficient Photochemical Processes
Dirk Ziegenbalg, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Ulm University, Germany

The contribution will discuss the fundamentals of photochemical reaction engineering in the context of comprehensive reporting and characterization of laboratory experimental setups. It will be shown that synergistic interdisciplinary work can lead to an enhanced photocatalytic performance through dynamic irradiation strategies, in-depth mechanistic understanding, and improved reactor designs. Examples will be provided to illustrate this point.

Green and Continuous Synthesis of Thiuram Disulfides via Electrochemical Microreactor
Kai Wang, Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, China

Different kinds of thiuram disulfides was efficiently and environmentally synthesized with microreactors.

Process Intensification for the Electrification of Chemical Manufacturing
Simon Kuhn, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, KU Leuven Belgium, Belgium

Small scale flow reactors have great advantages over conventional reactors, such as well-controlled flow patterns and increased surface-to-volume ratios, resulting in enhanced heat and mass transfer rates. Coupled with other benefits such as inherent safety allowing to perform reactions at elevated temperatures, pressures, or using highly reactive intermediates, they have become an attractive choice for the continuous manufacturing of chemicals and pharmaceuticals. However, these applications are still hindered by two important obstacles namely, weak convective mixing and issues regarding solids handling. Integrating ultrasound with small scale flow reactors has proven to be one of the more promising methods to address these issues. With selected examples, we will showcase the synergistic effect of ultrasound for particle synthesis, as well as electro- and photochemical processes. Exploiting these synergistic effects results in novel reactor concepts which will support the shift in chemical manufacture towards green and sustainable processes based on renewable energy sources.

Networking Reception in the Exhibit Hall with Japanese Beer and Sake

Close of Day 1 Conference Programming

Morning Coffee, Tea and Networking in the Exhibit Hall

New Organic Electrosynthetic Processes Innovated by Flow Reactor Technology
Mahito Atobe, Professor, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Yokohama National University, Japan

Organic electrosynthesis is expected to be a typical green chemistry process because it does not require any hazardous reagents and produces less waste than conventional chemical synthesis. In fact, a number of successful new green organic electrolytic processes have been developed to date. In addition, electrochemical methodologies based on new concepts have been also developed. These related studies have become an active research area. This presentation will outline a new organic electrosynthetic processes based on flow reactor technology, focusing on our research.

Ultrafast and Continuous Flow Synthesis of Zeolites
Toru Wakihara, Professor, The University of Tokyo, Japan

Zeolites have typically been synthesized via hydrothermal treatment, a process designed to artificially mimic the geological formation conditions of natural zeolites. This synthesis route, typically carried out in batch reactors like autoclaves, takes a time so long (typically, on the order of days) that the crystallization of zeolites had long been believed to be very slow in nature. Long periods of hydrothermal treatment also cause a burden on both energy efficiency and operational costs. Recently, we have reported the ultrafast syntheses of a class of industrially important zeolites within several minutes. Further shortening the crystallization time to the order of seconds would be a great challenge but can significantly benefit the mass product of zeolites as well as the fundamental understanding of the crystallization mechanism.

Pulse-Free/Continuous Flow Super Metering Pumps
Harayuki Morikawa, General Manager, Fuji Techno Industries Corporation

In the introduction, we will explain the operating principles, performance, and benefits of our innovative products. The presentation will cover various applications and manufacturing equipment the pumps are used and the list of chemicals the pumps can handle. After that, the Pumping System with Versatile Controller will be presented.

Mid-Morning Coffee and Tea Break and Networking in the Exhibit Hall

Sustainable and Scalable Flow Synthesis of Catalytic Colloidal Nanocrystals
Noah Malmstadt, Professor, Mork Family Dept. of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, University of Southern California, United States of America

New catalytic materials are central to addressing the current climate crisis. In particular, nanoscale crystals of metals as well as metal phosphides, carbides, and oxides are promising materials for upgrading biofuels and converting captured carbon dioxide. Industrial adoption of these materials has been limited by the energy intensive and difficult-to-scale solid-phase routes by which they’re typically synthesized. We are developing solution-phase routes to synthesize these materials as colloidal nanocrystals in millifluidic flow reactors. These routes minimize energy usage, allow for superior phase and size control of products, and facilitate scaling via millifluidic parallelization.

A general drawback to solution-phase synthesis is the cost of the solvent—in terms of economics, environmental risks, and heath hazards. To address this, we have been developing chemical routes to nanocrystal fabrication in sustainable ionic liquid solvents. Ionic liquids—organic salts that are molten at room temperature—have safety advantages due to their low volatility and non-flammability. They are also uniquely good solvents for nanocrystal fabrication due to their ability to stabilize early stage nuclei and to serve as weak surface ligands to growing nanocrystals. However, they are expensive—typically prohibitively so for industrial solvent applications. We have therefore developed actively controlled in-flow methods for recycling ionic liquid solvents used in nanocrystal synthesis. A techno-economic analysis of this recycling approach shows the recycled ionic liquid solvent cost is less than that of a typical volatile organic compound solvent.

Networking Luncheon in the Exhibit Hall -- Network with the Exhibitors, View Posters and Engage with Colleagues

Mechanistic Origins of the Accelerated Hydrogenation in Flow
Shusaku Asano, Assistant Professor, Kyushu University, Japan

Hydrogenation is a classical and well-studied reaction. However, there are many unexplained phenomena regarding its kinetics due to the complicated gas-liquid-solid interactions. I will introduce recent advances on this topic, especially in the flow system.

Continuous Flow Hydrogenations for the Chemical Manufacturing Industry
Christian Hornung, Research Group Leader, CSIRO, Australia

Our group at CSIRO has developed a new structured catalyst reactor system, termed Catalytic Static Mixers or CSMs, which is based on 3D printed metal scaffolds coated with a noble metal catalyst such as Pt, Pd, Ni, Ru or others. These tubular reactors are used in continuous flow hydrogenations for the chemical manufacturing industry as well as for hydrogen reforming on demand. With the help of computational fluid dynamics, the structure of the mixer lattice can be optimised for a range of different outputs, such as minimised pressure drop, maximised heat transfer or optimised mixing. CSMs can be classified as a hierarchical catalyst system, whereby different length scales are addressed by different preparation methods; cm-, mm- and µm-scale features are formed by the 3D printing process and classical engineering design while certain µm- and nm-scale features are created during the catalyst preparation and deposition procedures. This results in a highly efficient and versatile catalyst platform which can be used in a broad range of different applications including homogeneous liquid phase, emulsion, liquid-gas and gas phase processes.

Continuous Aerobic Alcohol Oxidation in a Micro-Packed Bed Reactor with Nitroxyl-Radical Catalysts: From Homogeneous to Heterogeneous
Jisong Zhang, Associate Professor, Tsinghua University , China

Selective aerobic oxidation is of crucial importance in organic synthesis, and sustainable oxidation strategies are highly desirable under green chemistry viewpoints. However, green oxidation processes rely not only on effective catalysts but also on the implementation of reactor technologies that enhance reaction performance and overall safety. Recently, nitroxyl radicals, as practical catalysts in oxidation have gradually attracted attention. These radicals can be further divided into stable radicals (such as 2, 2, 6, 6-tetramethylpiperidine nitrox, TEMPO) and active radicals (phthalimide-N-oxyl, PINO) produced by N-hydroxyimide (such as N-hydroxyphthalimide, NHPI). Nitroxyl radicals can form efficient catalytic systems in conjunction with metallic or non-metallic co-catalysts, enabling aerobic oxidations with high selectivity under mild conditions to obtain a variety of carbonyl compounds. Nevertheless, the existing nitroxyl-radical catalytic systems still face the challenges of high cost and limited recyclability. In this study, with a self-constructed micro-packed bed reactor platform, the space-time yields of alcohol oxidation to aldehyde and methylene oxidation to ketone were significantly enhanced by one to two orders of magnitude when compared to batch reactors. Furthermore, several novel strategies for nitroxyl-radical functionalized activated carbon catalysts are proposed, which not only surpass the state-of-art commercial silicon-based catalysts in terms of reactivity but also demonstrate exceptional stability in continuous-flow mode.

Break for Coffee and Networking in the Exhibit Hall. Please Bring Your Coffee to the Meeting Room for the Discussion that Follows

Discussion on Emerging Topics and Themes in Flow Chemistry -- Moderated by Conference Chairpersons: Professors Paul Watts and Simon Kuhn

Close of Conference