Date: 7 July 2020 | Category: News
Here we present our latest application note: “Photocatalytic Synthesis of γ-Lactams and α-Tertiary Amine Derivatives in Continuous Flow” featuring Vapourtec High Power LED (420 nm) and prepared by the Cresswell lab.
Quantum yield, determining your photonic need
Quantum yields of product formation (Φprod) are a critical parameter of photochemical reactions that determine how efficiently each photon is used. The lower the Φ, the less efficient the use of photons, and the higher photonic flux you need for the reaction to proceed at an acceptable rate.
High power LED light source
Many research groups have shown the ability of LED light sources to efficiently excite a photocatalyst and effect valuable and selective chemical transformations under mild conditions. Researcher Groups led by Prof. Dave MacMillan, Prof. Cory Stephenson, Prof. Timothy Noël, Prof. Michael Oelgemoeller, and Prof. Steven Ley have successfully demonstrated the potential to scale up these photocatalyzed reactions using continuous flow reactors.
In many of the published continuous flow photochemical reactions, throughput has been limited by available photons. To counter this, the team at Vapourtec have developed a LED as a drop-in replacement light source for the UV-150 that has more than triple the photon output compared with the standard lamp, with the same footprint.
Photocatalytic route for α-tertiary amines
The recent publication from the Cresswell group reported a simple photochemical route to directly synthesise γ-lactams and α tertiary amine derivatives via hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) [1].
By using an inexpensive organic photocatalyst (4CzIPN), and azide ion as a HAT catalyst, the α-C–H alkylation of aliphatic primary amines with acrylate Michael acceptors was demonstrated with 100 % atom economy [1].
Dr. Alex J. Cresswell, from University of Bath commented: “Reactions like ours that rely on a photocatalyst engaging with a second catalyst (azide ion in our case) are notorious for their very low photonic efficiencies. Excited photocatalysts are prone to competitive fluorescence and thermal relaxation pathways – instead of productive quenching – and this is particularly acute when the quencher is a co-catalyst present in low concentration. The new high power LEDs available with Vapourtec’s easy-Photochem E-Series will prove essential for reaction efficiency in such cases.”
References
To read this application note click here
For more information about Vapourtec's E-Series click here
To find out more about Vapourtec's UV-150 photochemical reactor click here