Continuous flow mechanochemistry: reactive extrusion as an enabling technology in organic synthesis

Rapid and wide-ranging developments have established mechanochemistry as a powerful avenue in sustainable organic synthesis. This is primarily due to unique opportunities which have been offered in solvent-free - or highly solvent-minimised - reaction systems. Nevertheless, despite elegant advances in ball-milling technology, limitations in scale-up still remain. This tutorial review covers the first reports into the translation from batch-mode ball-milling to flow-mode reactive extrusion, using twin-screw extrusion.

Automated summary

This tutorial review discusses the translation from batch-mode ball-milling to flow-mode reactive extrusion using twin-screw extrusion. Mechanochemistry has been established as a powerful approach in sustainable organic synthesis, mainly due to the opportunities offered in solvent-free or highly solvent-minimized reaction systems. However, limitations in scale-up still exist.