Disposable cartridge concept for the on-demand synthesis of turbo Grignards, Knochel–Hauser amides, and magnesium alkoxides

• Mateo Berton¹
• Kevin Sheehan²
• Andrea Adamo²
• D. Tyler McQuade¹

• ¹Department of Chemical and Life Sciences Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University, Biotech Eight, 737 N. 5th St., Box 980100, Richmond, VA 23219, USA
• ²Zaiput Flow Technologies, 300 2nd Avenue, Waltham, MA 02451, USA

Magnesium organometallic reagents occupy a central position in organic synthesis. The freshness of these compounds is the key for achieving a high conversion and reproducible results. Common methods for the synthesis of Grignard reagents from metallic magnesium present safety issues and exhibit a batch-to-batch variability. Tubular reactors of solid reagents combined with solution-phase reagents enable the continuous-flow preparation of organomagnesium reagents. The use of stratified packed-bed columns of magnesium metal and lithium chloride for the synthesis of highly concentrated turbo Grignards is reported. A low-cost pod-style synthesizer prototype, which incorporates single-use prepacked perfluorinated cartridges and bags of reagents for the automated on-demand lab-scale synthesis of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen turbo magnesium bases is presented. This concept will provide access to fresh organomagnesium reagents on a discovery scale and will do so independent from the operator’s experience in flow and/or organometallic chemistry.

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