Hugh Cowley, Development Editor – Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Blog

Author Archive

Welcoming Anita Maguire to the Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Editorial Board

02 May 2019

We are delighted to welcome Professor Anita Maguire to the Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Editorial Board.

Anita is Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Director of the Analytical & Biological Chemistry Research Facility, and Vice President for Research & Innovation, at University College Cork, Ireland.

Anita’s research interests are within synthetic organic chemistry and pharmaceutical chemistry, and a key feature of her research team is extensive interaction with the pharmaceutical industry both within Ireland and internationally.

Anita undertook undergraduate and postgraduate studies at University College Cork (B.Sc., 1985; Ph.D., 1989), focusing during her studies on asymmetric catalysis in reactions of α-diazoketones. Following postdoctoral research in the Facultes Universitaires, Namur, Belgium, and subsequently at the University of Exeter, she returned to Cork in 1991 initially as a Lecturer in Organic Chemistry, then as Associate Professor of Organic Chemistry in 2002, and then as the first Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry in 2004. In 2011 she was appointed as Vice President for Research and Innovation at University College Cork. She was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Bergen from 2011-16. Her research interests include asymmetric synthesis, including transition-metal catalysis and biocatalysis, the development of novel synthetic methodology employing α-diazocarbonyl compounds, organosulfur chemistry, and continuous flow chemistry, and the design and synthesis of bioactive compounds with potential pharmaceutical applications. Anita is a co-PI in the Synthesis and Solid State Pharmaceutical Centre (SSPC). She is the inaugural Chair of the National Forum on Research Integrity and was elected a Member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2014.

Please join us in warmly welcoming Anita to the Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Editorial Board!

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Profile: Timothy Noël, 2017 Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Emerging Investigator

04 Feb 2019

To celebrate the publication of the Reaction Chemistry & Engineering 2019 Emerging Investigators special issue, the editors caught up with 2017 Emerging Investigator Professor Timothy Noël.

Timothy Noël received in 2004 his MSc degree (Industrial Chemical Engineering) from the KaHo Sint-Lieven in Ghent. He then moved to Ghent University to obtain a PhD at the Laboratory for Organic and Bioorganic Synthesis (2005-2009). Next, he moved to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellow with Professor Stephen L. Buchwald. He currently holds a position as an associate professor and he chairs the Micro Flow Chemistry & Synthetic Methodology group at Eindhoven University of Technology. His research interests are flow chemistry, homogeneous catalysis and organic synthesis. His research on photochemistry in microfluidic reactors was awarded the DECHEMA award 2017.

Read Professor Noël’s 2017 Emerging Investigator papers A sensitivity analysis of a numbered-up photomicroreactor system and Safety assessment in development and operation of modular continuous-flow processes.

Your 2017 Emerging Investigator research paper focuses on numbering-up a photomicroreactor system. How has your research evolved from this article to your most recent work?

The numbering-up papers that we published both appeared in Reaction Chemistry & Engineering and these publications represent work that we are still proud off. The solution we developed was really easy and it comprised only components that were commercially available and inexpensive. That is a deliberate strategy in our group as we hope that this facilitates uptake of our technology in academia and industry. In this specific case, it was very encouraging to see that the technology was rapidly picked up by quite a number of colleagues to scale their chemistry.

In recent years, we focused more on the harvesting of solar energy with our luminescent solar concentrator-based photomicroreactors and we will publish in the near future some exciting updates on that work. Also we got involved into automation to develop e.g. automated platforms to carry out reaction screening or to cope with specific issues such as variable light conditions due to passing clouds.

What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?

We started about three years ago with electrochemistry in flow and this is something that we will work on more in the near future. We have some upcoming work that we are very excited about and I believe that electrochemistry can become as important as photochemistry. It is my firm belief that also electrochemistry requires a technological impetus to make it scalable and widely applicable.

What do you find most challenging about your research?

I think one challenging aspect of our research is the interdisciplinarity as we combine organic chemistry and homogeneous catalysis with chemical engineering and flow chemistry. If you want to excel in all these fields, it is quite a challenge to keep track of everything and make sure we have the right people in the group that can take on this challenge. Actually, I am super-proud of my team, they really embrace these challenges and they surprise me every day with their creative solutions.

In which upcoming conferences or events may our readers meet you?

I will attend the yearly flow chemistry conference in Cambridge, organized by the Flow Chemistry Society, which is a must-go-to meeting if you work on Flow Chemistry. I am also going to the ACS meeting in Orlando, where I intend to speak during both flow and non-flow sessions. I am also attending the Beilstein meeting on Electrochemistry and the Lab on a Chip meeting in Amsterdam. Besides that, I also give quite a few seminars at academic institutions and in companies. Discussing our work with colleagues in the field is one of the things I really love about my job.

How do you spend your spare time?

I have three kids so I spend quite some time with my family. If I have some “Me-time”, I really love to do sports as my job is most of the time quite static. In addition, I also want to learn something about things that I am not an expert in, so I read lots of books and listen to podcasts which deal with history, politics, philosophy, psychology, etc.

Which profession would you choose if you were not a scientist?

A psychologist, I really love to listen and talk to people. Also in my daily job, I really want to know the person behind the researcher.

Can you share one piece of career-related advice or wisdom with other early career scientists?

Do something that you are passionate about and try to be different in your approach. Science nowadays is getting increasingly more competitive and the struggle for financial funding is extremely fierce. If you do not truly love what you are doing, you will rapidly lose interest and confidence and eventually you will probably give up. Therefore, it is important to use a different approach that sets you and your team apart. This allows you to really investigate thoroughly what you are doing without being scared of getting scooped. But it is important to never give up and to keep working hard every single day, even if grants get rejected and the results are not as great as you hoped for. Sooner or later you will find something really cool and you will realize it was all worth it.

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Top 10 Most-read Reaction Chemistry & Engineering articles – Q1 2018

23 Apr 2018

This month sees the following articles in Reaction Chemistry & Engineering that are in the top ten most read from January – March 2018.

Why not take a look at the articles today and blog your thoughts and comments below.

Design and 3D printing of a stainless steel reactor for continuous difluoromethylations using fluoroform
Bernhard Gutmann, Manuel Köckinger, Gabriel Glotz, Tania Ciaglia, Eyke Slama, Matej Zadravec, Stefan Pfanner, Manuel C. Maier, Heidrun Gruber-Wölfler and C. Oliver Kappe
React. Chem. Eng., 2017, 2, 919-927
DOI: 10.1039/C7RE00176B

A miniature CSTR cascade for continuous flow of reactions containing solids
Yiming Mo and Klavs F. Jensen
React. Chem. Eng., 2016, 1, 501-507
DOI: 10.1039/C6RE00132G

Halogenation of organic compounds using continuous flow and microreactor technology
David Cantillo and C. Oliver Kappe
React. Chem. Eng., 2017, 2, 7-19
DOI: 10.1039/C6RE00186F

Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling optimization enabled by automated feedback
Brandon J. Reizman, Yi-Ming Wang, Stephen L. Buchwald and Klavs F. Jensen
React. Chem. Eng., 2016, 1, 658-666
DOI: 10.1039/C6RE00153J

Development of a reactor with carbon catalysts for modular-scale, low-cost electrochemical generation of H₂O₂Zhihua Chen, Shucheng Chen, Samira Siahrostami, Pongkarn Chakthranont, Christopher Hahn, Dennis Nordlund, Sokaras Dimosthenis, Jens K. Nørskov, Zhenan Bao and Thomas F. Jaramillo
React. Chem. Eng., 2017, 2, 239-245
DOI: 10.1039/C6RE00195E

Aerobic oxidations in flow: opportunities for the fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals industries
Asterios Gavriilidis, Achilleas Constantinou, Klaus Hellgardt, King Kuok (Mimi) Hii, Graham J. Hutchings, Gemma L. Brett, Simon Kuhn and Stephen P. Marsden
React. Chem. Eng., 2016, 1, 595-612
DOI: 10.1039/C6RE00155F

The application of reaction engineering to biocatalysis
R. H. Ringborg and J. M. Woodley
React. Chem. Eng., 2016, 1, 10-22
DOI: 10.1039/C5RE00045A

Continuous direct anodic flow oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons to benzyl amides
Mikhail A. Kabeshov, Biagia Musio and Steven V. Ley
React. Chem. Eng., 2017, 2, 822-825
DOI: 10.1039/C7RE00164A

Poly(oxymethylene) dimethyl ether synthesis – a combined chemical equilibrium investigation towards an increasingly efficient and potentially sustainable synthetic route
M. Ouda, G. Yarce, R. J. White, M. Hadrich, D. Himmel, A. Schaadt, H. Klein, E. Jacob and I. Krossing
React. Chem. Eng., 2017, 2, 7-19
DOI: 10.1039/C6RE00145A

Rapid, selective and stable HaloTag-LbADH immobilization directly from crude cell extract for the continuous biocatalytic production of chiral alcohols and epoxides
J. Döbber, M. Pohl, S. V. Ley and B. Musio
React. Chem. Eng., 2018, 3, 8-12
DOI: 10.1039/C7RE00173H

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Bio-Resources: Feeding a Sustainable Chemical Industry – Faraday Discussion

03 Apr 2017

The upcoming Faraday Discussion meeting on Bio-Resources: Feeding a Sustainable Chemical Industry will be held in London, UK on 19–21 June 2017.

This Faraday Discussion aims to address some of the critical issues in bio-resources, with themes on bio-based materials, bio-based chemicals, conversion technologies and feedstocks and analysis, by bringing together experts in different but complementary areas in the chemical sciences.

Faraday Discussions have a special format where research papers written by the speakers are distributed to all participants before the meeting, and most of the meeting is devoted to discussing the papers. Everyone contributes to the discussion – including presenting their own slide if it aids discussion. The discussion is recorded and will be published alongside the research papers in the Faraday Discussion Volume. Find out more about Faraday Discussions on the FAQs page.

Confirmed speakers:

Bruce Dale (Michigan State University, USA)
Andrzej Stankiewicz (Delft University of Technology, Netherlands)
George Huber (University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA)
Mark Mascal (University of California, Davis, USA)
Avtar Matharu (University of York, UK)
Xindong Mu (QIBEBT, China)
Gadi Rothenberg (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Keith Waldron (Institute of Food Research, UK)
Vania Zuin (Federal University of Sao Carlos, Brazil)

Poster submission deadline is 10 April – find out more about how to submit and register for the event here.

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Celebrating International Women’s Day in RCE

08 Mar 2017

As part of International Women’s Day, we would like to take the opportunity to celebrate research led by women and published in Reaction Chemistry & Engineering. With a big thank you to these researchers, and to all women that have contributed to work published in the journal, we encourage you to read their excellent work!

Professor Donna Blackmond, Scripps Research Institute, USA and Editorial Board member for Reaction Chemistry & Engineering

In situ FTIR spectroscopic monitoring of electrochemically controlled organic reactions in a recycle reactor
Alexander G. O’Brien, Oana R. Luca, Phil S. Baran and Donna G. Blackmond
React. Chem. Eng., 2016, 1, 90-95
DOI: 10.1039/C5RE00050E

An electrochemical reactor coupled with a recycle loop through a transmission FTIR cell allows continuous monitoring of reaction progress.

Professor King Kuok (Mimi) Hii, Imperial College London, USA and Advisory Board member for Reaction Chemistry & Engineering

Catalysis in flow: O₂ effect on the catalytic activity of Ru(OH)_x/γ-Al₂O₃ during the aerobic oxidation of an alcohol
John B. Brazier, Klaus Hellgardt and King Kuok (Mimi) Hii
React. Chem. Eng., 2017, 2, 60-67
DOI: 10.1039/C6RE00208K

Different roles of O₂ in the Ru-catalysed aerobic oxidation of alcohols have been delineated.

This collaborative review (between teams of chemists and chemical engineers) describes the current scientific and operational hurdles that prevent the utilisation of aerobic oxidation reactions for the production of speciality chemicals and active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).

Dr Laura Torrente Murciano, University of Cambridge, UK

Synthesis of narrow sized silver nanoparticles in the absence of capping ligands in helical
microreactors
Ke-Jun Wu, Geoffroy Michet De Varine Bohan and Laura Torrente-Murciano
React. Chem. Eng., 2017, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C6RE00202A
From themed collection Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Emerging Investigators

Microtubular helical reactors generate secondary flows promoting the synthesis of mono-sized silver nanoparticles in the absence of capping ligands.

Professor Neda Nazemifard, University of Alberta, Canada

Application of microfluidics to control product selectivity during non-catalytic oxidation of
naphthenic-aromatic hydrocarbons
M. N. Siddiquee, A. de Klerk and N. Nazemifard
React. Chem. Eng., 2016, 1, 418-435
DOI: 10.1039/C6RE00010J

Liquid phase oxidation of naphthenic-aromatic hydrocarbons in slug-flow reactor shows high selectivity, arising from the ability to control local oxygen availability in miniaturized reactors.

Professor Ying Zheng, University of Edinburgh, UK

The catalytic activity and chemical structure of nano MoS₂ synthesized in a controlled environment
H. P. Zhang, H. F. Lin, Y. Zheng, Y. F. Hu and A. MacLennan
React. Chem. Eng., 2016, 1, 165-175
DOI: 10.1039/C5RE00046G
From themed collection Celebrating 175 years of the Royal Society of Chemistry

The redox synthesis mechanism is, for the first time, revealed in a novel hydrothermal preparation of nano MoS₂ with MoO₃ as precursors. The S-to-Mo ratio plays a key role in influencing the morphology and activity of catalyst MoS₂.

Professor Sonja Herres-Pawlis, RWTH Aachen, Germany

Decay kinetics of sensitive bioinorganic species in a SuperFocus mixer at ambient conditions
Daniela Schurr, Florian Strassl, Patricia Liebhäuser, Günter Rinke, Roland Dittmeyer and Sonja Herres-Pawlis
React. Chem. Eng., 2016, 1, 485-493
DOI: 10.1039/C6RE00119J

For the first time the formation and decay of the thermally very sensitive bis(μ-oxo)dicopper species was monitored at ambient temperature in a continuous flow setup and the rate constant of the decay was measured.

Professor Regina Palkovits, RWTH Aachen, Germany

Methanation of residual syngas after LPG synthesis: identifying the main effects on catalytic performance with Plackett–Burman screening design
Florian Krebs, Vitaliy Bliznuk, Joon Hyun Baik, Regina Palkovits and Kalin Simeonov
React. Chem. Eng., 2016, 1, 477-484
DOI: 10.1039/C6RE00071A

Seven factors in catalyst development were selected and rated towards their impact on methanation as a downstream process.

Professor Zhenan Bao, Stanford University, USA

Small-scale reactors for H₂O₂ production that can couple to renewable energy sources would be of great benefit for decentralized water purification.

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Royal Society of Chemistry and ACS Publications commit to ORCID integration

29 Nov 2016

Yesterday, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the American Chemical Society Publications Division, ACS Publications, both signed the ORCID Open Letter committing to unambiguous identification of all authors that publish in our journals.

The official press release can be found here: http://rsc.li/orcid

In brief, this partnership with ORCID will resolve ambiguity in researcher identification caused by name changes, cultural differences in name presentation, and the inconsistent use of name abbreviations, thereby ensuring their contributions are appropriately recognized and credited.

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Flow Chemistry Europe 2017

22 Nov 2016

Reaction Chemistry & Engineering is proud to sponsor the Flow Chemistry Europe 2017 meeting, to be held by the Flow Chemistry Society at Magdalene College, University of Cambridge, UK, on 7–8 February 2017. Submit your poster abstract before 17 January 2017 for a chance to win a prize, courtesy of Reaction Chemistry & Engineering!

Conference Chairs:

Volker Hessel (Eindhoven University of Technology, Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Editorial Board)
Mimi Hii (Imperial College London, Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Advisory Board),

This meeting is dedicated to the integration of flow chemistry into everyday processes. By attending this industry-leading conference, you will benefit from the expert knowledge of academic and industry leaders who are pushing the boundaries of this rapidly evolving field. Agenda topics include:

Back to Einstein – Electrification of chemistry – making use of the smallest units, photons and electrons
Back to Health – Medicinal flow chemistry in the era of the FDA’s door opening towards emerging technologies
Back to Nature – End-to-end continuous-flow production

Keynote Speaker

Timothy Noel (Eindhoven University of Technology), presenting “A Conceptually New Photomicroreactor Design for Energy-efficient Solar Photochemistry“

Confirmed speakers include:

Andrea Adamo (Zaiput Flow Technologies)
Claudio Battilocchio (University of Cambridge)
Richard Bourne (University of Leeds, Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Advisory Board)
Doris Dallinger (University of Graz)
Stevan Djuric (AbbVie)
Amanda Evans (California State University Fullerton)
Alain Favre-Reguillon (University of Lyon)
Daniel Fitzpatrick (University of Cambridge)
Antimo Gioiello (University of Perugia)
Robert Green (University of Southampton)
Heidrun Gruber-Woelfler (Graz University of Technology)
Thomas Junkers (Hasselt University)
Anita Maguire (University College Cork)
Kevin Milburn (University of Bristol)
Polona Znidarsic Plazl (University of Ljubljana)
Igor Plazl (University of Ljubljana)
Dominique Roberge (Lonza Group)
Floris Rutjes (Radboud University Nijmegen)
Guy Samburski (TEVA)
Siegfried Waldvogel (Johannes Gutenburg-University Mainz, Reaction Chemistry & Engineering Advisory Board)
Thomas Wirth (Cardiff University)

Early bird discounts are available until 10 January 2017 and the deadline for poster submission is 17 January 2017.

Flow Chemistry Society members save 25% on the cost of registration whilst non-members receive their first year’s membership included in the fee.

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37th International Organic Process Research and Development Conference

21 Nov 2016

We are pleased to announce Organic Process Research& Development – The 37th International Conference and Exhibition, to be held on 6–8 March 2017 at the Westin Pasadena, Pasadena, USA.

On the agenda are discussions of the latest issues relating to synthetic route design, development and optimisation in the parmaceutical, fine chemical and related fields.

Keynote Speaker: Professor Robert Grubbs (CalTech, USA)

Confirmed speakers include:

Jean Guy Boiteau (Galderma R&D, France)
Peter Hermsen (DSM Chemical Technology R&D, The Netherlands)
Scott Hecker (Rempex Pharmaceuticals, USA)
Clemens Steuckler (Patheon Austria GmbH & Co KG, Austria)
Ben Littler (Vertex Pharmaceuticals, USA)
Jade Osei-Tutu (Johnson Matthey Plc, UK)
David Rozzell (Provivi, Inc., USA)
Scott Savage (Genentech, Inc., USA)
Chris Senanayake (Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., USA)
John Studley (Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Europe) Ltd, UK)
Rajappa Vaidyanathan (Bristol-Myers Squibb, India)
Phillip Wheeler (Materia Inc., USA)

Early bird discount is available if you register before 31 December 2016.

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25th International Symposium: Synthesis in Organic Chemistry – registration now open!

14 Nov 2016

We are delighted to announce that 25th International Symposium: Synthesis in Organic Chemistry will be held in Oxford on 17 – 20 July 2017 – be sure to secure your place today!

Plenary speakers:

Michael Krishe, University of Texas at Austin, USA
Varinder Agaarwal, University of Bristol, UK

For the full list and details of speakers and conference themes, please visit the event web page.

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21st IUPAC International Conference on Organic Synthesis

09 Nov 2016

We are pleased to announce the 21st International Conference on Organic Synthesis (ICOS 21) which will be held on 11–16 December 2016 at IIT Bombay, Mumbai, India.

This biennial IUPAC event is a platform for the exhibition of new and upcoming topics in the field of organic chemistry.

Returning to India for the first time since ICOS 10 was held at IIS Bangalore in 1994, this conference aims to bring together new ideas across total synthesis, design of new methodologies, flow chemistry, C–H activation, synthetic biology, pharmaceutical chemistry and industrial chemistry.

Register now to attend the meeting alongside the following speakers:

Special Lecture

Professor Goverdhan Mehta, University of Hyderabad, India

Plenary Speakers

Janine Cossy, Institute of Chemistry, Biology and Innovation, France
Michael Krische, The University of Texas, Austin, USA
Dawei Ma, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, China
Klaus Muellen, Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Germany
Ganesh Pandey, CBMR, India
Viresh Rawal, The University of Chicago, USA
Chris Senanayake, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, USA
Keisuke Suzuki, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
Dean Toste, University of California, USA
Herbert Waldmann, Max Planck University of Molecular Physiology, Germany

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