MSGID: 1:317/3 6273531e   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Researchers devise cheaper, faster way to continuously produce amines   
      
      
     Date:   
         May 4, 2022   
     Source:   
         North Carolina State University   
     Summary:   
         Chemical engineering researchers have developed a faster, less   
         expensive technique for producing hindered amines -- a class   
         of chemicals used as building blocks in products ranging from   
         pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals to detergents and organic light   
         emitting diodes.   
      
      
      
   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a faster,   
   less expensive technique for producing hindered amines -- a class of   
   chemicals used as building blocks in products ranging from pharmaceuticals   
   and agrochemicals to detergents and organic light emitting diodes.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   "Hindered amines are used in a tremendous variety of products, but all   
   of the existing techniques for producing these amines are complicated   
   and expensive," says Milad Abolhasani, corresponding author of a paper on   
   the new technique and an associate professor of chemical and biomolecular   
   engineering at NC State.   
      
   "We set out to develop a better method for synthesizing these hindered   
   amines, and we were successful."  One of the less expensive techniques   
   for producing hindered amines is hydroaminomethylation, or HAM. However,   
   the chemical industry has largely avoided using HAM, because there are   
   too many ways things can go wrong - - leaving producers with undesirable   
   chemicals instead of the functionalized amines they were trying to   
   make. Researchers have improved the HAM process over the years. But   
   all of the techniques for avoiding undesirable byproducts have meant   
   extending the timeframe of the HAM process, so that it takes hours to   
   perform all of the necessary reactions. Until now.   
      
   "We've developed a HAM technique that makes use of continuous flow   
   reactor technologies to produce hindered amines more efficiently,"   
   Abolhasani says.   
      
   "Our HAM process takes less than 30 minutes in most cases. The only   
   products are hindered amines and water. And we are able to recycle the   
   primary catalyst, rhodium/N-Xantphos, which further drives down costs."   
   The success of the new technique is made possible by two things. First,   
   by using a continuous flow reactor that allows for continuous flow of   
   both gases and liquids in a segmented flow format, the researchers were   
   able to make the kinetics of the reaction far more efficient. Second,   
   the new technique makes use of a co-catalyst -- fluorinated benzoic   
   acid -- which reduces the amount of energy needed to perform some of   
   the necessary reactions in the HAM process.   
      
   Ultimately, this technique drives down the cost of producing hindered   
   amines using inexpensive feedstock, allowing users to produce them more   
   quickly and with no toxic byproducts.   
      
   "By designing a cooperative catalyst system, we've demonstrated that   
   the rate of the HAM reactions in our system can be 70 times higher   
   than the existing state-of-the-art processes," says Malek Ibrahim,   
   first author of the paper and a former postdoctoral researcher at   
   NC State. "This process is also a good example for how flow chemistry   
   platforms can improve catalyst turnover frequency, which is increasingly   
   important as the price of rhodium catalysts goes up."  The new technique   
   is particularly attractive for decentralized manufacturing operations,   
   since the small footprint of the necessary equipment and its scalability   
   allows users to efficiently produce hindered amines on site and on demand.   
      
   "What's more, the same technique can also be used to produce enamines --   
   which are other chemical building blocks -- on demand, simply by tuning   
   the solvents we use in the flow reactor," Ibrahim says. "You can literally   
   switch back and forth between producing amines and enamines without having   
   to stop the production process, since the only thing you're changing is   
   the solvent mixture."  The researchers have filed a provisional patent   
   on the new technique and are now looking for industrial partners to put   
   the technique into widespread use.   
      
   The work was done with start-up funding from NC State.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by   
   North_Carolina_State_University. Original written by Matt Shipman. Note:   
   Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Malek Y. S. Ibrahim, Milad Abolhasani. Recyclable cooperative   
      catalyst   
         for accelerated hydroaminomethylation of hindered amines in a   
         continuous segmented flow reactor. Nature Communications, 2022;   
         13 (1) DOI: 10.1038/ s41467-022-30175-0   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220504082615.htm   
      
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