Photon Equivalents as a Parameter for Scaling Photoredox Reactions in Flow: Translation of Photocatalytic C-N Cross-Coupling from Lab Scale to Multikilogram Scale

With the development of new photocatalytic methods over recent decades, the translation of these chemical reactions to industrial-production scales using continuous-flow reactors has become a topic of increasing interest. In this context, we describe our studies toward elucidating an empirically derived parameter for scaling photocatalytic reactions in flow. By evaluating the performance of a photocatalytic C-N cross-coupling reaction across multiple reactor sizes and geometries, it was demonstrated that expressing product yield as a function of the absorbed photon equivalents provides a predictive, empirical scaling parameter. Through the use of this scaling factor and characterization of the photonic flux within each reactor, the cross-coupling was scaled successfully from the milligram scale in batch to a multi-kilogram reaction in flow.