The diffi culties involved in scaling up reactions from laboratory to process scale are well
known, especially when dangerous materials are involved. This paper will demonstrate the
capability of the H-Cube Midi™ to successfully scale-up hydrogenation reactions.
Reaction pathways are usually designed in laboratories on a small scale using stirred, glass vessels. When scale-up is attempted using a larger vessel, unexpected reactions may occur or problems including catalyst and inhibition effects. Also, the time taken for the reaction to go to completion is often signifi cantly increased.
The advent of fl ow technology has offered a methodology that can overcome these restrictions and allow rapid preparation of compounds with minimum workup. Reactions are carried out on a small scale but the amount of product can be increased by allowing a larger volume to fl ow through the system. This has a number of advantages. The thermo-chemistry of the reaction doesn’t change, so the reaction result will be constant. The heat production is highly controllable meaning many hazardous reagents that were prohibited previously may now be used in a safe controlled manner. Furthermore, reagents or compounds only undergo short reaction times and are then eluted into
a collection vial, so further reaction with starting materials or
thermal decomposition is unlikely.
INTRODUCTION
The H-Cube Midi™ represents the fi rst step in ThalesNano, Inc.’s development of process scale fl ow hydrogenation. Utilizing current H-Cube® technology, the H-Cube Midi™ seeks to increase the capacity of the present H-Cube® without compromising effi ciency and safety. The H-Cube Midi™ will
allow users of the H-Cube® to scale up reactions and achieve the same results.
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Official ThalesNano contact : flowchemistry@thalesnano.com
