Gold(I) NHC catalysts immobilized to amphiphilic block copolymers: a versatile approach to micellar gold catalysis in water

Fifteen gold(I)-NHC-functionalized amphiphilic block copolymers that differ in the type of linker (ethyl, pentyl, octyl and benzyl) that attaches the gold(I) NHC catalyst to the block copolymer backbone, as well as, the substitution pattern of the NHC ligand (i. e. mesityl, methyl, 2,6-diisopropylphenyl and n-hexyl) were synthesized by a reversible addition and fragmentation transfer (RAFT) polymerization process. Micelle formation of the gold(I) NHC polymers was analyzed by electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering and revealed spherical and rod-like particles from 12 to 96 nm. In the micellar, gold(I) catalyzed cycloisomerization of an allene to the corresponding dihydrofuran, linker flexibility and substitution pattern of the NHC-ligand showed a strong effect on the catalytic activity. Best results were obtained were obtained for gold(I) NHC catalysts bound to the polymer backbone by pentyl linker whereas the rather stiff benzyl linker gave lowest catalyst conversion. Moreover, the polymer catalyst could be recycled in four consecutive runs and gave activities from 35 to 84 % in the fourth run and underscores the importance of fine tuning structural parameters to achieve high conversion under micellar reaction conditions

Micro‐computed tomography for the 3D time‐resolved investigation of monodisperse droplet generation in a co‐flow setup

Droplet generation in microfluidic devices has emerged as a promising approach for the design of highly controllable processes in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. However, droplet generation is still not fully understood due to the complexity of the underlying physics. In this work, micro‐computed tomography is applied to investigate droplet formation in a circular channel in a co‐flow configuration at different flow conditions (Ca < 0.001). The application of an in‐house developed scanning protocol assisted by comprehensive image processing allows for the time‐resolved investigation of droplet formation. By tracking different droplet parameters (length, radii, volume, surface, Laplace pressure) the effect of flow conditions on droplet progression is determined. As characteristic for the squeezing regime, final droplet size was nearly independent of Ca for higher Ca tested. For lower Ca, the final droplet size increased with decreasing Ca, which points to the leaking regime that was recently introduced in the literature