(511f) Demonstration of Continuous Hydrogenation Reactions with Powdered Catalysts Enmeshed in an Expanded PTFE Matrix

Fixed bed catalytic reactors are commonly used for hydrogenation in the commodity chemical industry, but adoption to the pharmaceutical industry has been limited by the lack of available catalyst pellets in sizes suitable for process development at practical scale (e.g. 10-100 mmol). Herein we describe the application of powdered catalysts (e.g. palladium on carbon) enmeshed in an expanded PTFE (ePTFE) matrix to flow hydrogenation. Using a modular design, the catalytic layers and supplemental components can be arranged to suit specific reaction conditions, desired results, and throughput. The reactor was demonstrated with several different transformations including nitro reduction, debenzylation, and alkene reduction. All substrates resulted in high or full conversion after optimization including longevity experiments to understand the long-term reliability of the reactor. This combined with continuous flow encourages scale-up opportunities using the same modular design while maintaining conversion with a simple reactor to use.