Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12)
Self-optimising flow chemistry for sustainable synthesis
Harvey West 1 , Firdaus Parveen 1 , Richard Bourne 2 and Anna Slater 1 1. Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Merseyside, L69 3BX, 2. School of Chemical and Process Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT E-mail: hjkwest@liverpool.ac.uk Managing Earth’s finite resources and safeguarding our natural environment are growing societal challenges. The scientific community has demonstrated the potential of functional materials to address some of these issues, but often the process of discovery is resource intensive. Continuous flow chemistry, inline analysis and automation have been reported to aid in this area by enabling rapid reaction optimisation, boosting reproducibility, and reducing resource usage. 1-3 This research develops an automated, self-optimising flow chemistry platform for the efficient synthesis of functional materials, including porphyrins and porous organic cages. These materials have applications in clean energy, water purification, pollutant sequestration, and catalysis. 4, 5 By integrating inline analysis with chromatography, the system enables real-time monitoring of yield, selectivity, and efficiency. Optimisation algorithms and real-time data analysis will be incorporated, managing and visualising data streams from multiple analytical instruments. This allows rapid adaptation of reaction conditions to improve performance and reproducibility. By optimising reaction conditions and solvent choices, the platform supports greener synthetic routes. Future applications include expanding the platform’s capabilities for other complex molecules, enabling data-driven discovery and process intensification. This approach advances sustainable chemical synthesis, improving the accessibility of functional materials while reducing environmental impact, making scalable and efficient production more feasible for industrial and research applications.
Key words: Flow chemistry, reaction optimisation, inline analysis, sustainable synthesis References 1. F. Parveen, H. J. Morris, H. West and A. G. Slater, J. Flow Chem ., 2024, 14 , 23-31. 2. F. Parveen, N. Watson, A. M. Scholes and A. G. Slater, Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, 2024, 48 , 100935. 3. R. W. Epps, A. A. Volk, K. G. Reyes and M. Abolhasani, Chem. Sci ., 2021, 12 , 6025. 4. B. B. Beyene and C.-H. Hung, Sustainable Energy & Fuels, 2018, 2 , 2036-2043. 5. Y. D. Yuan, J. Dong, J. Liu, D. Zhao, H. Wu, W. Zhou, H. X. Gan, Y. W. Tong, J. Jiang and D. Zhao, Nat. Comm. , 2020, 11 , 4927.
P100
© The Author(s), 2025
Made with FlippingBook Learn more on our blog