A 3D-Printed Open Access Photoreactor Designed for Versatile Applications in Photoredox- and Photoelectrochemical Synthesis

Most published photochemical reactions are still not performed under standardized conditions. It is well known that the control of light intensity, the exact reaction temperature and other parameters are crucial for the success of a photochemical reaction. However, for most reactions reported in the literature, these parameters are not precisely controlled and recorded. As a result, the reproduction of these reactions is difficult and the progress in the field of photoredox chemistry is hampered by this limitation. To address this problem, a 3D-printed photoreactor was designed which can be easily replicated with a small number of inexpensive and easily available components. Equipped with thermoelectric coolers, the reactor can access and precisely control the temperature in the range of -17 degrees C to 80 degrees C, while reactions under high-intensity irradiation are performed with LED lamps from Kessil or HepatoChem. The practical design of the vial holder allows a versatile use of different reaction vessels - in addition to fast reaction optimization with up to eight vials simultaneously, upscaling in batch and flow is easily possible. Due to the high light intensity, the catalyst loading can be reduced to 0.1 mol % for large-scale reactions. The flexibility of the vial holder is demonstrated by combining IKA's ElectraSyn 2.0 with the photoreactor to perform photoelectrochemical reactions in a reproducible manner.

Automated summary

Many photochemical reactions lack standardized conditions, which hinders the reproducibility and progress in the field. To address this issue, a 3D-printed photoreactor was designed for easily replication and flexible use of various reaction vessels, enabling efficient photochemical reactions.