title: Compartmentalized Droplets for Continuous Flow Liquid-Liquid Interface Catalysis.
abstract: To address the limitations of batch organic-aqueous biphasic catalysis, we develop a conceptually novel method termed Flow Pickering Emulsion, or FPE, to process biphasic reactions in a continuous flow fashion. This method involves the compartmentalization of bulk water into micron-sized droplets based on a water-in-oil Pickering emulsion, which are packed into a column reactor. The compartmentalized water droplets can confine water-soluble catalysts, thus "immobilizing" the catalyst in the column reactor, while the interstices between the droplets allow the organic (oil) phase to flow. Key fundamental principles underpinning this method such as the oil phase flow behavior, the stability of compartmentalized droplets and the confinement capability of these droplets toward water-soluble catalysts are experimentally and theoretically investigated. As a proof of this concept, case studies including a sulfuric acid-catalyzed addition reaction, a heteropolyacid-catalyzed ring opening reaction and an enzyme-catalyzed chiral reaction demonstrate the generality and versatility of the FPE method. Impressively, in addition to the excellent durability, the developed FPE reactions exhibit up to 10-fold reaction efficiency enhancement in comparison to the existing batch reactions, indicating a unique flow interface catalysis effect. This study opens up a new avenue to allow conventional biphasic catalysis reactions to access more sustainable and efficient flow chemistry using an innovative liquid-liquid interface protocol.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanxi University , Taiyuan 030006, China.|Institute of Molecular Science, Shanxi University , Taiyuan 030006, China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanxi University , Taiyuan 030006, China.
authors.forename: Lijuan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanxi University , Taiyuan 030006, China.
authors.forename: Huan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Resources and Environment Engineering, Shanxi University , Taiyuan 030006, China.
authors.forename: Zhiping
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Hull , Hull HU6 7RX, U.K.
authors.forename: Bernard P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Binks
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanxi University , Taiyuan 030006, China.
authors.forename: Hengquan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang