Concurrently with Thomas’s PhD defense, his two latest papers have been published in OPRD and J Flow Chem!
In his Organic Process Research & Development article “Intensified Continuous Flow Michaelis–Arbuzov Rearrangement toward Alkyl Phosphonates”, Thomas revisits the production of alkyl phosphonate building blocks using a ThalesNano Phoenix reactor. Tweaking the process conditions allows the valorisation of an inevitable side product. This work, which entails productivities of up to 5 kg/d, provides a scalable route towards aminophosphonic acid derivatives, and fits in with Thomas’ work on aminoacids bioisosteres.
In the Journal of Flow Chemistry paper “Continuous flow organocatalyzed methoxycarbonylation of benzyl alcohol derivatives with dimethyl carbonate”, Thomas and co-author Loïc explore a low-footprint synthesis of benzyl N-hydroxycarbamates, replacing chloroformates with the corresponding benzyl methyl carbonates. The latter are obtained from dimethyl carbonate as a reagent and a solvent, using an organocatalyst to selectively functionalise a range of diversely substituted benzylic alcohols.
Congrats to Thomas for a dazzling finish to his PhD, and to Loïc who is just starting his!