Large-scale synthesis of dihydrostreptomycin via hydrogenation of streptomycin in a membrane dispersion microreactor

Abstract In this work, a membrane dispersion microreactor was applied for the hydrogenation of streptomycin (STR) to produce dihydrostreptomycin (DHS). The reductant was dispersed into the continuous phase containing STR, leading to a significant increase in the mass-transfer specific surface area, and the conversion rate of STR reached 99.81 wt% within 3 min. In contrast, in stirred tanks, the conversion rate of STR only reached 99.5% in 30 min. Moreover, the minimum amount of KBH 4 used in the membrane dispersion microreactor was about 35.71% lower than that in traditional tanks, when achieving the same conversion rate at about 99.5%.