Yunchuang Wang

3D-printed flow reactors were designed, fabricated from different materials (PLA, HIPS, nylon), and used for a catalytic stereoselective Henry reaction. The use of readily prepared and tunable 3D-printed reactors enabled the rapid screening of devices with different sizes, shapes, and channel dimensions, aimed at the identification of the best-performing reactor setup. The optimized process afforded the products in high yields, moderate diastereoselectivity, and up to 90 % ee. The method was applied to the continuous-flow synthesis of biologically active chiral 1,2-amino alcohols (norephedrine, metaraminol, and methoxamine) through a two-step sequence combining the nitroaldol reaction with a hydrogenation. To highlight potential industrial applications of this method, a multistep continuous synthesis of norephedrine has been realized. The product was isolated without any intermediate purifications or solvent switches.

Homemade reactors: Stereoselective catalytic reactions were conducted in tunable homemade 3D-printed mesoreactors. This method was applied to the continuous-flow synthesis of biologically active chiral 1,2-amino alcohols in a two-step sequencing combining a nitroaldol reaction and hydrogenation.

A low-cost, solution-processed, versatile, microfluidic approach is developed for patterning structures of highly conductive metals (e.g., copper, silver, and nickel) on chemically modified flexible polyethylene terephthalate thin films by in situ polymer-assisted electroless metal deposition. This method has significantly lowered the consumption of catalyst as well as the metal plating solution.