Kinetic investigation of the asymmetric hydrogenation of benzylphenylephrone in continuous flow: enabling R&D with flow chemistryand microfluidics
In the pharmaceutical industry, efficient, fast, and cost-effective API manufacturing processes are crucial for maintaining competitiveness. However, traditional production methods are often dominated by multi-purpose batch processes and empirical development approaches. This study presents the desi...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2025-06-25
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| In: |
Chimia
Year: 2025, Volume: 79, Issue: 6, Pages: 441-448 |
| ISSN: | 2673-2424 |
| DOI: | 10.2533/chimia.2025.441 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.2533/chimia.2025.441 Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://www.chimia.ch/chimia/article/view/2025_441 
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| Author Notes: | Maurice Moll, Björn Wängler, Carmen Wängler, Thorsten Röder |
| Summary: | In the pharmaceutical industry, efficient, fast, and cost-effective API manufacturing processes are crucial for maintaining competitiveness. However, traditional production methods are often dominated by multi-purpose batch processes and empirical development approaches. This study presents the design and development of a fully automated, mL-scale continuous flow process for the asymmetric hydrogenation of benzylphenylephrone to (R)-benzylphenylephrine (BPE). The process employs a rhodium-based homogeneous catalyst under high pressure (up to 65 bar), achieving conversions of >96%, yields of up to 95% and high enantiomeric excess (ee) of up to 91%, with residence times of less than five minutes and a molar substrate to catalyst ratio (S/C) of 750. Kinetic investigations were conducted in a continuous flow microreactor, resulting in the development of a kinetic model that closely matches experimental data. |
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| Item Description: | Gesehen am 02.10.2025 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 2673-2424 |
| DOI: | 10.2533/chimia.2025.441 |