Electrifying Technical Organic Syntheses
~the first major technology platform that drives the transfer of electroorganic syntheses from the laboratory to industrial scale~
 

 


E-SCOPE 2.0

Electrosynthetic screening and optimization of the second generation                           

 

Motivation: The entry into electrosynthesis is often associated with significant hurdles for synthesis chemists. Electrification of conventional syntheses in organic chemistry usually requires many years of experience and expertise to master the multi-parameter aspects of electrosynthesis. Electrosynthesis in flow poses further challenges, as a large number of reaction parameters with strong dependencies must be taken into account. Nevertheless, flow electrolysis is the key to scalable and continuous electrosynthesis and is therefore of high technical relevance. New and more powerful concepts are needed to provide users with uncomplicated and fast access to electrosynthesis for new transformations and a quick start to optimization.


Aims and procedure: As part of this project, an experimental platform will first be set up that enables the automatic planning and execution of electrochemical reactions in the flow. The development of an automated system for carrying out electrochemical reactions and its integration into the ChemASAP robotics project at KIT will create the prerequisites for systematically analyzing the results of reactions as a function of various parameters. The system will be complemented by an automated experimental design, as a result of which the underlying experimental parameter space will be systematically investigated. By combining both systems, electrochemical reactions can be investigated in a fraction of the time previously required and a sustainable, efficient path for research and process development in electrosynthesis can be demonstrated. In a second step, the results of the experimental platform will lead to the realization of the beta version of a commercially usable process development platform (ESy-Screening) including automation, robotics and AI.

Innovations and prospects: The aim of this project is to establish a joint research infrastructure as the key to the future and efficient electrification of organic synthesis and to scale up classic screening into high-throughput screening that can be made available to other companies. This foresight topic in ETOS will bring together work in the fields of electrosynthesis screening (JGU), robotics, automation and artificial intelligence (KIT) and implementation of an overall system of screening, robotics, automation and AI (ESy). This will provide the necessary quantum leap in terms of the necessary technical and analytical-methodological development for efficient, future-proof electrochemical research, which is necessary for more sustainable processes in universities and industry.

Coordinators:

Stefan Bräse (KIT) stefan.braese@kit.edu
Nicole Jung (KIT) nicole.jung@kit.edu


Siegfried R. Waldvogel (MPI CEC) siegfried.waldvogel@cec.mpg.de
Tobias Gärtner (ESy-Labs) info@esy-labs.de