Chemical reactions in supercritical carbon dioxide: from laboratory to commercial plant

The application of supercritical carbon dioxide in continuous, fixed bed reactors has allowed the successful development of a variety of industrially viable synthetic transformations. The world's first, multi-reaction, supercritical flow reactor was commissioned in 2002 as a direct result of the successful collaboration between the Clean Technology Group at the University of Nottingham and the fine chemicals manufacturer, Thomas Swan & Co. Ltd. We highlight the development of this project from laboratory to plant scale, particularly in the context of the hydrogenation of isophorone. Phase data for the system; isophorone + H-2 + CO2, are presented for the first time. Overall, we present a progress report about an on-going Green Chemistry initiative that has successfully forged strong links between Industry and Academia.