A Continuous Stirred-Tank Reactor (CSTR) Cascade for Handling Solid-Containing Photochemical Reactions

Abstract

Visible-light photoredox reactions have been demonstrated to be powerful synthetic tools to access pharmaceutically relevant compounds. However, many photoredox reactions involve insoluble starting materials or products that complicate the use of continuous flow methods. By integrating a new solid-feeding strategy and a continuous stirred-tank reactor (CSTR) cascade, we realize a new solid-handling platform for conducting heterogeneous photoredox reactions in flow. Residence time distributions for single phase and solid particles characterize the hydrodynamics of the heterogeneous flow in the CSTR cascade. Silyl radical-mediated metallaphotoredox cross-electrophile coupling reactions with an inorganic base as the insoluble starting material demonstrate the use of the platform. Gram-scale synthesis is achieved in 13 h of stable operation.