A Continuous Flow Microwave Reactor for Organic Synthesis

Microwave reactors are important tools in chemical synthesis, as they can lead to unprecedented reductions in reaction times and improved reaction yields. In order to scale-up the technology for greater throughput and industrial application, reactor types are moving from batch to continuous flow reactors. This research designed, built, verified and modeled a continuous flow microwave reactor. The reactor could operate under high temperature/high pressure conditions, and was connected to in-line gas chromatography/mass spectrometry, for real time sample analysis. Specifically, a pressure device was developed to enable the reactor to run under high pressure conditions (< 1100 psi) without the use of a conventional back-pressure device. The reactor design was verified using two chemical reactions, and an in-line analytic apparatus was developed to assess the potential for reactor operation with in-line GC/MS. Additionally, a computational fluid dynamic model was developed to better understand the heat and mass transfer inside the reactor.MAS