High-Temperature Diels-Alder Reactions: Transfer from Batch to Continuous Mode

The transfer of a Diels-Alder reaction of (cyclohexa-1,5-dien-1-yloxy)trimethylsilane 1 with alpha-acetoxyacrylonitrile 2 and acrylonitrile 8, respectively, from batch to continuous mode is presented, using standard and widely available laboratory equipment. A standard microwave-based system was used as probe for the transfer to flow reactors. Temperature and residence time have been optimized in small coiled-tube reactors and confirmed with two production runs in a flow reactor. The inherent increase in safety caused by the small volumes at high temperatures and the achieved productivity (approximately 100 g/h using acrylonitrile) are offering advantages over the batch mode which suffers from thermokinetic limitations for scale-up.