Continuous flow multi-step organic synthesis

The multi-step synthesis of complex organic compounds from simpler precursors is one of the outstanding accomplishments and ongoing challenges of synthetic organic chemistry. Through the development and invention of synthesis strategies, methods and technologies, increasingly complex molecules can be assembled with designed structures and functions for a variety of medicinal, agrochemical and materials applications. However, despite significant advances, organic synthesis is still considered highly labourand resource-intensive. The traditional pathway for multi-step synthesis proceeds by the batchwise and iterative step-by-step transformation of starting materials into desired products (Fig. 1(a)). Typically, after the completion of each synthetic step (A + B / C, C / D and D / E), products are isolated from the reaction mixture and purified to remove any undesired components that might interfere with the subsequent synthetic transformations. Although this approach is the foundation on which modern synthesis has been built, such an approach is time-consuming, often wasteful and in stark contrast to the single-cell multi-step biosynthetic pathways found in nature.