Abstract

Efficient and Scaled-up Continuous-flow Synthesis of Pharmaceuticals and High-value Products in Microreactors

Yuanhai Su, Professor, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

This report focuses on the continuous-flow synthesis and scale-up of high-value chemicals, especially pharmaceuticals. Key systems include the photobromination of oxime ethers, photocatalytic oxidation of dihydroartemisinin to artemisinin, and cyanation of benzyl chloride to phenylacetonitrile. Using self-developed microreactors, limitations of traditional batch processes—such as heat, mass, and photon transfer inefficiencies, and scale-up effects—were overcome. By combining numbering-up and scaling-up strategies, the coupling of transport phenomena and reactions in microchannels, along with reaction kinetics, was systematically studied to guide scale-up. The resulting high-throughput microreactor platform enables highly selective, continuous, large-scale synthesis of various high-value chemicals, including pharmaceutical intermediates and active ingredients. This work provides theoretical and technical support for the green transformation of the high-value chemical and pharmaceutical industries.