Continuous catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation in supercritical CO2

Continuous hydrogenation in supercritical fluids has been shown to be a technically viable alternative to traditional batch-wise methodologies. Clearly, the next stage of development of this technology is the application of immobilised enantioselective catalysis in the preparation of optically active products. Enantioselective hydrogenation has been successfully carried out in supercritical carbon dioxide using batch-type reactors but has yet to be efficiently carried out continuously. Here we examine an established method of catalyst immobilisation and demonstrate its suitability for application in continuous reactors using supercritical carbon dioxide as solvent.