Organic Reaction Systems: Using Microcapsules and Microreactors to Perform Chemical Synthesis

The appetite for complex organic molecules continues to increase worldwide, especially in rapidly developing countries such as China, India, and Brazil. At the same time, the cost of raw materials and solvent waste disposal is also growing, making sustainability an increasingly important factor in the production of synthetic life-saving/improving compounds. With these forces in mind, our group is driven by the principle that how we synthesize a molecule is as important as which molecule we choose to synthesize. We aim to define alternative strategies that will enable more efficient synthesis of complex molecules. Drawing our inspiration from nature, we attempt to mimic (1) the multicatalytic metabolic systems within cells using collections of nonenzyme catalysts in batch reactors and (2) the serial synthetic machinery of fatty acid/polyketide biosynthesis using microreactor systems. Whether we combine catalysts in batch to prepare an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) or use microreactors to synthesiz...