Clean Synthesis and Platform Molecules

The Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence promotes the application of green and sustainable technologies, particularly those that can be used to deliver products that meet consumer and legislation requirements.

Our expertise in developing cleaner manufacturing technologies and processes makes the production of a range of chemicals possible in a manner which maximises efficiency and minimises waste. We have considerable experience in the development and use of heterogeneous catalysts, supercritical CO2  and microwave technologies, all of which can enhance processing.

These are combined with an investigative approach based on fundamental chemistry, in order to unravel the requirements of each process before designing the appropriate solution. In addition to the normal lab scale facilities (which include several multipoint reactors), the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence has larger reactors capable of handling quantities up to kilogram scale.

The centre also has expertise in the use of microwave reactors and supercritical CO2  reactors for carrying out reactions capable of working on the multi-100g scale to demonstrate processes beyond small scale reactions, and to provide material for further testing.  All these facilities are backed up with excellent analytical facilities within the Centre which allow both process optimisation and final product analysis to be carried out. In addition, we have excellent facilities for the characterisation of catalysts before and after reaction.

We have successfully taken the following processes / products to commercial realisation:

• A process for ALPHA-bromination of carboxylic acids, eliminating the need for phosphorus and dramatically reducing process times.
• Development of a range of clay-based solid catalysts for acid catalysed reactions, including Friedel-Crafts.
• Development of a series of tunable, biomass-derived catalysts / catalyst supports for reactions in water including conversion of platform molecules.
• Development of a streamlined process for the isolation of an active pharmaceutical ingredient.

  Recent research highlights include:

  The development of a simple clean catalyst for amide formation, avoiding the use of auxiliaries, providing a simple and effective route for the formation of amides, a central technology in the construction of pharmaceuticals.

  Our breakthrough technology removes the need for expensive, wasteful and sometimes dangerous processes. The development of catalysts which are active in aqueous conditions including fermentation broths. These catalysts are based on renewable resources such as starch, and can be tuned to optimise performance under challenging conditions.

  Fermentation is a particularly interesting route to the provision of platform molecules from renewable resources, but isolation of products can be difficult. Our catalysts can carry out reactions within fermentation broths to allow easier separation of products. We are actively pursuing chemistry which can be readily used to convert platform molecules into a wider range of building blocks. As many of the bio-derived platform molecules are acids, we are looking at converting acids into a range of other useful functionalities such as esters, amides and ketones. Where possible, this is being investigated directly on fermentation mixtures, but in all cases the processes being developed are designed to be clean and efficient.

  Clean Synthesis and Platform Molecules Brochure (PDF , 1,252kb)