Rapid Process Development and Scale-Up Using A Multiple Reactor System

This article presents case studies that show how computer control involving parallel synthesis in specially designed reactors, particularly on the 25−100 mL scale, can provide significant benefits to the development cycle of new synthetic compounds of commercial interest. The application of computer control to a variety of processes is discussed, particularly the combination of automation with statistical design packages for process optimisation. By employing a combination of calorimetry data and other analytical measurements, it has been demonstrated that small-scale experimentation can produce data that is both representative and scaleable.