Suzuki-Miyura cross-coupling reaction in droplet-based microreactor

Abstract

An ionic liquid (IL)-based Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reaction was implemented successfully in a droplet-based microreactor. FC-40 fluorocarbon-based liquid was introduced as the continuous phase to disperse reactants into uniform droplets. The negligible effect of the existence of FC-40 on reaction and product analysis was clarified, and then the reaction performance within droplets was investigated under different operating conditions. The application of droplet-based microreactor not only solved the clogging problem in a microchannel due to high viscosity of ionic liquids, but also improved the reaction yield by intensifying mixing. Compared with a batch reactor, the yield in the droplet-based microreactor improved evidently, i.e., from 59.4% to 68.7% at 83 °C with the reaction time at 10 min.