Project background (identification of the problem and its importance and relevance to sustainability)

The uptake of greener manufacturing methods plays a pivotal role in reducing the contributions of chemical manufacture towards greenhouse emissions. At the same time there is mounting pressure for chemical and pharmaceutical companies to adopt more sustainable manufacturing approaches to meet the UK's target of net-zero emissions by 2050.

As the demand for chemical and biopharmaceutical targets shifts away from traditional "blockbuster drugs" and towards small-scale manufacture of a diverse range of compounds, there is a need to develop novel sustainable chemical technologies for modern manufacturing. This is being facilitated in part by the transfer of existing reactions from batch into flow which offers better control over energy and mass transfer, greater flexibility in integrating multi-step processes and can provide access into previously unexplored chemical territory. The shift has been driven by the development of new reactors for photochemical, electrochemical, and thermal transformations. Individually and combined, these approaches are key in the development of a sustainable chemistry industry with the ability to offer efficient routes for complex chemical synthesis. Furthermore, flow systems also permit the safer use of hazardous chemicals and harsher reaction conditions such as high pressure and temperature.

Proposed solution and methodology

This project seeks to develop new approaches for thermal, photo- and electro- chemistry in flow to solve challenges within sustainability. This will be achieved through the development and deployment of specialist reactors which can operate within so-called extended process windows (EPWs) with process intensification to reap dramatic reductions in reaction time by maximising reaction kinetics, whilst maintaining acceptable product selectivity.

This Project aims to:

Exploit the benefits of high temperature water and other less hazardous solvents in continuous flow across a range of processes and to compare their performance with traditional organic solvents. The chemistry will include:

Singlet oxygen chemistry

Photoredox catalysis

Acid/base catalysis at high temperatures

Develop new photochemical processes for the intensification and optimisation of chemical reactions of potential industrial interest.

Explore a range of analytical techniques for effective reaction monitoring and to use one or more of these techniques in combination with appropriate reaction models for process control.

Leverage the combined benefits of machine learning-based predictive algorithms and process analytical technology (PAT) to conduct chemical reactions in an efficient, more informed manner.