Ecological Synthesis of Pharmaceutically Relevant Compounds

Uniqsis reports that the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano (Italy) has invested in a FlowLab™ Scale continuous flow reactor to assist them in 'green' chemical synthesis of pharmaceutically-relevant compounds.

The Process Intensification & Flow Chemistry group of Dr. Gianvito Vilé evaluated different commercial flow reactors offering integrated synthesis, work-up, and analysis capabilities before selecting a Uniqsis FlowLab™ continuous flow reactor system.

Dr. Gianvito Vilé said “My group uses continuous-flow technologies for the synthesis of pharmaceutically-relevant compounds. Our aim is to apply green chemistry principles to develop novel pharmaceutical compounds that protect human health while minimizing impact on the environment. To this end, over the last eight years, we have been doing pioneering research in the field of flow chemistry, first discovering highly-cited catalytic methods for flow hydrogenations and, later, using flow chemistry for the automated production of libraries for hit-to-lead phase in drug discovery. The investment in a new flow chemistry system was to enable the group to stay at the forefront of ecologically sound pharmaceutical synthesis."

Dr. Vilé added: "We were interested in a system which was highly versatile. Having worked with almost every system on the market, I chose the FlowLab™ system due to its favorable cost and competitive specifications. Also, we wanted a flow instrument able to operate at high pressure and temperatures, that could be complemented with low temperature, photochemistry, and electrochemistry modules. Backed by Uniqsis’s strong technical and applications support, the FlowLab™ system was an obvious choice."

Sales director of Uniqsis Steve Evans commented: “We are delighted to welcome the renowned research group of Dr. Vilé to the growing community of leading academic research labs using the FlowLab™ continuous flow reactor for synthesis of novel pharmaceutical compounds.”

FlowLab is a versatile flow chemistry system and can be configured with up to four pump channels with a choice of 10ml/min, or 50ml/min pump heads for higher scale applications. It may also be configured with any combination of up to four individual heated/cooled reactor modules. By selecting from the HotCoil™ and HotChip™ heated reactor modules, and the Polar Bear Plus Flow™ and Polar Bear Plus GSM™ cryogenic modules (with an operating range from -40°C to 300°C) the FlowLab offers unrivalled flexibility. The FlowLab can also be integrated with the Uniqsis Flow-UV™ inline UV-VIS spectrophotometer to monitor steady state conditions in real time.

Uniqsis specializes in the design of meso-scale continuous flow chemistry systems for a wide range of applications in chemical and pharmaceutical research. The company’s aim is to make flow chemistry easily accessible to both novices and experienced users. For further information on the FlowLab™ continuous flow reactor please visit www.uniqsis.com or please contact Uniqsis on +44-845-864-7747 / info@uniqsis.com.

For further information on the research areas under investigation by the Vilé group at the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano, please visit https://gianvitovile.wixsite.com/vile-group/