Recent advances exploiting reactive intermediates generated via continuous flow chemistry

Reactive intermediates are transient high-energy species playing a pivotal role in the synthesis of organic molecules. Continuous flow processing is frequently exploited in generating a plethora of reactive intermediates in situ followed by their rapid transformation to target molecules. Reactor miniaturisation along with high heat and mass transfer rates are key features that are exploited in these flow processes that provide for additional benefits such as safety and scalability. This short review highlights recent advances in the field of flow chemistry for the generation and use of reactive intermediates by photochemical reactions, low-temperature sequences as well as related transformations.