Suffolk (UK) based Vapourtec has partnered up with Dr Nicholas Leadbeater and the New Synthetic Methods Group at the University of Connecticut (USA) to produce a new guide entitled “An Introduction to Flow Chemistry – A Practical Laboratory Course”.

Aimed principally at undergraduate teaching laboratories within colleges and universities but also a great asset to the research lab, the 100 page manual details a set of ten continuous-flow processing experiments, each of which can be easily delivered in conjunction with Vapourtec’s E-series flow unit during a regular lab period.

Dr Leadbeater, Associate Professor at the University of Connecticut and widely recognised as one of the leading lights in the fields of flow chemistry and new educational initiatives, commented: “Flow chemistry offers a lot of exciting possibilities in terms of running reactions for a wide variety of industries and it’s vital that it is encouraged and nurtured in the field of education.

“This guide is designed to bring flow chemistry to life for the chemists of tomorrow and complements one of the leading technologies in the form of Vapourtec’s E-series flow unit, an affordable and robust flow chemistry system that is perfectly geared towards the needs of academic teaching and research labs,” added Dr Leadbeater.

The manual features two Nobel Prize-winning reactions; a palladium-catalysed cross-coupling and a ruthenium catalysed alkene metathesis as well as focusing on cleaner, greener chemistry such as an oxidation reaction using household bleach as the oxidant. Also included is the synthesis of heterocycles, a rearrangement reaction and a sweet-smelling esterification, amongst others.

Each experiment comes with a brief introduction and step-by-step instructions for performing, working-up and analysing the reaction. All of the experiments were designed, developed, tested and re-tested by two talented graduate students, Christopher Kelly and Michael Mercadante, working in Dr Leadbeater’s group.

Vapourtec MD Duncan Guthrie, who founded the company in 2003, commented: “The potential offered by flow chemistry is immense and it’s already a proven method for the more efficient manufacture of a host of beneficial substances including active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), agrochemicals, flavorings, fragrances and speciality polymers.

“This guide is a great way of introducing continuous flow processing into the educational sphere and will help to train the next generation of chemists,” added Duncan.

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