Microreactors

After several years of experience in using microreaction technology in R&D and production Sigma-Aldrich decided to assemble its own microreactor system that is now offered as Microreactor Explorer Kit 19979 to the public. We trust our own development and routinely use this kit for the production of Sigma-Aldrich catalogue products. Two examples from our portfolio highlight some of the benefits of microreaction technology:

Product 66763: Exo-Methylenecyclopentane

	52440	66763	66540

MRT conditions:

Temp.	t	Conc.	Feed rate	Output	Pressure
58 °C	< 5 min	neat	2.0 mL/min	500-700 g / 8 h	1-2 bar

Benefit of MRT for this reaction: Product profile improvement!

The catalyst needed for this reaction requires a minimal temperature of 55 °C, which is close to the reagent’s boiling point. Microreactor technology allows raising the boiling point comfortably by applying moderate pressure to the system.

In the presence of the catalyst the product 66763 isomerizes to the side-product 66540. With microreactor technology the product can continuously be taken out of the reaction zone followed by direct quenching. Thus product purities of more than 99% can be obtained. This purity could not be realized with a batch process while at the same time separation of the different products is difficult because of similar boiling points.

Product 95144: Retinol

	95144

MRT conditions:

Temp.	t	Conc.	Feed rate	Output	Pressure
60 °C	17 min	1.8 M	2.1 mL/min	700 g / 22 h	0.5-1 bar

Benefit of MRT for this reaction: Conservation of an unstable product!

Product 95144 is sensitive to air, light and temperature. With microreactor technology the product can continuously be collected. In conventional batch mode the product begins to decompose while being kept at reaction conditions of 60 °C for full conversion of the starting material.

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