Microchemical systems for rapid optimization of organic synthesis

In the chemistry laboratory, the desire to use smaller quantities of material to minimize both reagent cost and waste generation has driven chemists to develop new experimental techniques. The current approach to small scale experimentation has mostly been a simple reduction in the size of batch reaction apparatus. Working with these smaller volumes has increased the efficiency of experiments by accelerating the typically time consuming processes of heating, filtration, and drying. Furthermore, when working with hazardous materials, smaller scales minimize the exposure of a chemist to toxic materials and enable easier containment of potentially flammable or explosive systems. The use of microfluidic devices has shown several improvements when compared to traditional batch synthesis. The precise control of reaction conditions enabled within the microreactor format has proved advantageous for a wide range of single and multiphase reactions. Also, unlike conventional bench-top batch reactions, continuous microreactors are capable of producing both analytical and preparative quantities of material by simply changing the amount of reactor effluent collected.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2006

Author dc:creator

• Murphy, Edward R

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Klavs F. Jensen and Martin A. Schmidt.

• Chemical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/36912

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/36912