The H-Cube® and X-Cube™ can employ scavenger resins (ScavCarts™) which are located at the output of the reactor. After the reaction has taken place the reaction mixture flows through the ScavCart™ and any dissolved metals are removed. There is, therefore, a reaction and purification step in one flow. The need for a further purification step is not necessary saving on solvents and other generated analytical waste.
ThalesNano Cube reactors reduce the risks associated with hazardous chemical syntheses. Specifically, the H-Cube® makes hydrogenation safer by removing the need for hydrogen cylinders and catalyst filtration.
The H-Cube®, X-Cube™ and H-Cube Midi™ all use catalyst cartridges which allow the user to handle pyrophoric catalysts safely. When using batch reactors, catalyst filtration is required and is a hazardous step. With the CatCarts® this step is not necessary.
In the X-Cube™ and H-Cube®, the heterogeneous catalysts and reagents are packed into cartridges (CatCarts®). The substrate solution or reaction mixture is pumped through the cartridge. The mixing between the different phases is much higher leading to reaction rates that are orders of magnitude higher. This allows certain reactions to be performed at lower temperatures saving energy.
The Catcarts® allow catalysts to be recycled and used with different substrates making the most out the Earth's limited natural resources. When using catalysts in batch systems, the catalysts are filtered using Ceelite and cannot be reused.
It takes 4 minutes for reaction mixtures to pass through the H-Cube®. There are plans to incorporate a UV detector for online analysis during the reaction.
With the removal of hydrogen cylinders and the catalyst filtering process coupled with higher temperature control, hydrogenation is made safer and accidents are prevented when using the H-Cube® and H-Cube Midi™.
The H-Cube Autosampler™ system can reduce the number of synthetic steps in a library. e.g. A nitro compound must be reduced to form an amine, which will act as a proton donator in the final compound. In batch synthesis, the hydrogenation would be performed on a large scale at the beginning of the synthesis and the resulting amine protected and deprotected as a last step. The reduction of the nitro group as a last step in a library synthesis, negating the need for protection and deprotection steps, cannot be performed in a batch mode due to the large number of compounds involved. It would take too long a time. With the H-Cube Autosampler™, 50 compounds may be reduced overnight allowing this process to be performed in an automated fashion for the first time.