A series of photochemical based studies into the application of green chemistry principles to potentially industrially relevant chemical reactions

Hunter, Jonathan (2021) A series of photochemical based studies into the application of green chemistry principles to potentially industrially relevant chemical reactions. PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.

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Abstract

This Thesis details several research areas which attempt to address some of the issues associated with industrial scale photochemical reactions. In the first Chapter, an overview of industrial scale photochemistry is given, and these approaches have been critiqued from a green chemistry perspective. From this introduction, three main aims of the Thesis have been developed and are explored in the subsequent chapters. These are 1) to explore routes in improve the “green credentials” of a photoredox reaction, specifically for amide bond synthesis; 2) to develop a reactor which was capable of safely conducting photochlorination and use this system to try to solve several long-standing issues with this reaction; 3) to study the application of bio-derived solvents for use in photochemical reactions.

The efforts towards achieving these aims resulted in varying levels of success.

Regarding the first aim, it was possible to increase the scale of the photoredox reaction by ~500-fold and this was followed with the production of a chiral amide through the utilisation of a combined enzymatic and photochemical route. Additionally, a novel electrochemical process was identified to produce chiral amides.

With respect to aim two, a new photochemical reactor, based on a rotatory evaporator, was developed for the ease handling of chlorine gas, and conducting photochlorination reactions. This was used to produce several chlorinated compounds including a key intermediate for the drug Plavix. Furthermore, it was shown that brine could be readily used for the in-situ¬ production of chlorine gas for photochlorination reactions.

Finally, the progress made towards completing aim 3 resulted in the identification of several bio-derived solvent alternatives for different types of photochemical reactions without affecting the yield or rate of those reactions.

Item Type: Thesis (University of Nottingham only) (PhD)
Supervisors: George, Michael
Poliakoff, Martyn
Keywords: Photochemistry, Green chemistry principles, Chemical reactions
Subjects: Q Science > QD Chemistry > QD450 Physical and theoretical chemistry
Faculties/Schools: UK Campuses > Faculty of Science > School of Chemistry
Item ID: 66247
Depositing User: Hunter, Jonathan
Date Deposited: 31 Dec 2021 04:40
Last Modified: 31 Dec 2023 04:30
URI: https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/66247

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