3D printed reactors and Kessil lamp holders for flow photochemistry: design and system standardization

Abstract

A low-cost 3D printed standardized flow-photochemistry setup has been designed and developed for use with a pressure-driven flow system using photochemistry lamps available in most laboratories. In this research, photochemical reactors were 3D printed from polypropylene which facilitated rapid optimization of both reactor geometry and experimental setup of the lamp housing system. To exemplify the rapidity of this approach to optimization, a Kessil LED lamp was used in the bromination of a range of toluenes in the 3D printed reactors in good yields with residence times as low as 27 s. The reaction compared favorably with the batch photochemical procedure and was able to be scaled up to a productivity of 75 mmol h⁻¹.