Readily Reconfigurable Continuous-Stirred Tank Photochemical Reactor Platform

A new modular photochemical continuous stirred-tank reactor (CSTR) design is described, based upon the development of light-source units that can be fitted to the previously described fReactor CSTR platform. In addition to use in homogeneous photochemical reactions (e.g., photoredox-catalyzed hydroamination), these units are especially well suited to handling multiphasic mixtures, exemplified here in solid–liquid (Wohl–Ziegler bromination) and gas–liquid (photocatalytic oxidative decarboxylation) reactions. The use of slurries as input feeds allows for the intensification of photochemical brominations, while the modular nature of the system facilitates the simple integration of downstream reaction steps, exemplified here in a continuous synthesis of an intermediate for the antihypertensive drug valsartan.