Flow Chemistry: Recent Developments in the Synthesis of Pharmaceutical Products

Abstract

Recently, application of the flow technologies for the preparation of fine chemicals, such as natural products or Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), has become very popular, especially in academia. Although pharma industry still relies on multipurpose batch or semibatch reactors, it is evident that interest is arising toward continuous flow manufacturing of organic molecules, including highly functionalized and chiral compounds. Continuous flow synthetic methodologies can also be easily combined to other enabling technologies, such as microwave irradiation, supported reagents or catalysts, photochemistry, inductive heating, electrochemistry, new solvent systems, 3D printing, or microreactor technology. This combination could allow the development of fully automated process with an increased efficiency and, in many cases, improved sustainability. It has been also demonstrated that a safer manufacturing of organic intermediates and APIs could be obtained under continuous flow conditions, where some s...