Continuous Solid Particle Flow in Microreactors for Efficient Chemical Conversion

Pickering emulsion biocatalysis: Bridging interfacial design with enzymatic reactions

Non-homogeneous enzyme-catalyzed systems are more widely used than homogeneous systems. Distinguished from the conventional biphasic approach, Pickering emulsion stabilized by ultrafine solid particles opens up an innovative platform for biocatalysis. Their vast specific surface area significantly enhances enzyme-substrate interactions, dramatically increasing catalytic efficiency. This review comprehensively explores various aspects of Pickering emulsion biocatalysis, provides insights into the multiple types and mechanisms of its catalysis, and offers strategies for material design, enzyme immobilization, emulsion formation control, and reactor design. Characterization methods are summarized for the determination of drop size, emulsion type, interface morphology, and emulsion potential. Furthermore, recent reports on the design of stimuli-responsive reaction systems are reviewed, enabling the simple control of demulsification. Moreover, the review explores applications of Pickering emulsion in single-step, cascade, and continuous flow reactions and outlines the challenges and future directions for the field. Overall, we provide a review focusing on Pickering emulsions catalysis, which can draw the attention of researchers in the field of catalytic system design, further empowering next-generation bioprocessing.

Multiphasic Continuous-Flow Reactors for Handling Gaseous Reagents in Organic Synthesis: Enhancing Efficiency and Safety in Chemical Processes

The use of reactive gaseous reagents for the production of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) remains a scientific challenge due to safety and efficiency limitations. The implementation of continuous-flow reactors has resulted in rapid development of gas-handling technology because of several advantages such as increased interfacial area, improved mass- and heat transfer, and seamless scale-up. This technology enables shorter and more atom-economic synthesis routes for the production of pharmaceutical compounds. Herein, we provide an overview of literature from 2016 onwards in the development of gas-handling continuous-flow technology as well as the use of gases in functionalization of APIs.