Prof. Jason Hein

Abstract

Reaction discovery, optimization and understand critically relies of making measurements of the total
composition of a reactive system. In‐situ reaction kinetic measurements represent the gold standard for deconvolution of a reaction network. This requires the extraction of real‐time reaction profiles detailing the time‐resolved concentrations of reagents, catalysts, ligands, intermediates, products and by‐products using on‐line or in‐line process analytical technologies such as HPLC, NMR and FTIR. However, many common reactions contain physical and chemical challenges which render the direct, data‐dense extraction of this information untenable. In particular, systems that are heterogenous, air‐sensitive, or dangerously reactive are particularly intractable, rendering them opaque to mechanistic analysis using process analytical technology.

Our group specializes in the application of automation and custom analytical hardware to visualize critical mechanistic detail from some of the most challenging reaction environments. This presentation will introduce some of the newest technology created in our group, including tools to enable online visualization of solid‐liquid and liquid liquid heterogenous reactions. By applying these tools, mechanistic details can be rapidly elucidated, facilitating reaction optimization and process validation in dramatically reduced timelines.