Flow
Reactors
Introduction
Flow reactors have distinct advantages over batch reactors both in terms
of safety (smaller volume) and control of the reaction conditions. Our
group has pioneered the use of small scale flow reactors for supercritical
reactions in the laboratory.
Flow Reactors - The Modular Approach
Building high pressure reactor systems can be a long and tedious process.
We have devised a simple modular approach, analogous to the "Quick-fit"
glassware used in conventional chemistry.
All of the key components (taps, cells, etc) are mounted on small powerful
magnets. The flow system is mounted on an iron table with the various components
in their desired positions. The components can then be connected together
by short lengths of microbore pipework. If the first design is unsucessful,
the whole reactor can be reconfigured in a relaively short time.
Applications
The key feature of all our flow reactors is the use of on-line spectroscopic
monitoring which allows conditions to be optimised in real-time. Sucessful
applications have included the synthesis of organometallic
compounds and the continuous hydrogenation
of organic functional groups.
Key Publications
-
Inorganic and Related Chemical Reactions in Supercritical Fluids, M. Poliakoff,
M.W. George and S.M. Howdle), Chapter 5 in Chemistry under Extreme and
non-Classical Conditions, Ed. R. Van Eldik, Spektrum,
Heidelberg,
1996, ISBN 0-471-16561-1, 189-218.
-
Flow Reactors for Preparative Chemistry in Supercritical Fluid Solution:-
The "Solvent-Free" Synthesis and Isolation of Cr(CO)5(C2H4)
and h5-(C5H5)Mn(CO)2(h2-H2),
J. A. Banister, P.D. Lee, & M. Poliakoff, Organometallics, 1995,
14,
3876-85.
-
Thermal Exchange Reactions of (h5-C5R5)Mn(CO)2(wL)
Compounds (wL = weakly-bound ligand) in Supercritical Fluid Solution and
the Isolation of (h5-C5R5)Mn(CO)2(h2-H2)
using High Pressure Flow and Semi-Flow Reactors. P. D. Lee, J. L. King,
S. Seebald and M. Poliakoff. Organometallics, 1998 17, 524-533
-
Synthesis in Supercritical Fluids:- Co-ordination Compounds, J. L. King
and M. Poliakoff, Chapter in book “Chemical Synthesis in Supercritical
Fluids” (W. Leitner and P. G. Jessop) Wiley VCH, Weinheim, 1999, ISBN
3-527-29605-0 243-258.
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Chemistry Welcome page
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Page created by: Simon Poliakoff
Created: July 1997
Last Revised: January 2001