Ir/Ni Photoredox Dual Catalysis with Heterogeneous Base Enabled by an Oscillatory Plug Flow Photoreactor

• Wouter Debrouwer,^a*
• Wim Kimpe^a
• Ruben Dangreau,^a
• Kevin Huvaere,^a
• Hannes P.L. Gemoets,^b
• Milad Mottaghi,^c
• Simon Kuhn,^c
• Koen Van Aken^ab

• ^aEcoSynth, Industrielaan 12, 9800 Deinze, Belgium
• ^bCreaflow, Industrielaan 12, 9800 Deinze, Belgium
• ^c Department of Chemical Engineering, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, 3001, Leuven, Belgium

Continuous flow reactor technology has a proven track record in enabling photochemical transformations. However, transfer of a photochemical batch process to a flow protocol often remains elusive, especially when solid reagents or catalysts are employed. In this work, application of an oscillatory plug flow photoreactor enabled a heterogeneous MacMillan-type C(sp²) – C(sp³) cross-electrophile coupling. Combination of an oscillatory flow regime with static mixing elements imparts exquisite control over mixing intensity and residence time distribution (RTD), pinpointing a mindset shift concerning slurry handling in continuous flow reactors. The C(sp²) – C(sp³) cross-electrophile coupling was successfully transferred from batch to flow, resulting in an intensified slurry process with significantly reduced reaction time and increased productivity (0.87 g/h).

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