Profile of the “Christian Doppler Laboratory for Microwave Chemistry” at the Karl-Franzens-University of Graz

C. Oliver Kappe

doi:10.1515/gps-2012-0058

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Profile of the “Christian Doppler Laboratory for Microwave Chemistry” at the Karl-Franzens-University of Graz

C. Oliver Kappe

Published/Copyright: September 27, 2012

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From the journal Green Processing and Synthesis Volume 1 Issue 5

The group

The Christian Doppler Laboratory for Microwave Chemistry (CDLMC, www.maos.net) was established in July 2006 at the University of Graz, Austria. The primary aim of the laboratory is to perform basic and applied research in the area of microwave chemistry in consultation with industrial partners. This facilitates the efficient technology transfer from Universities to the private sector. Set up as a public-private partnership, the CDLMC is administered by the Christian Doppler Research Association (CDG) which provides matched funding to Austrian and international industrial contributors. Named after the Austrian physicist Christian Doppler (1803–1853), the CDG currently supports more than 60 laboratories in Austria.

The CDLMC occupies approximately 200 m² of laboratory and office space at the Institute of Chemistry at the University of Graz. Designed as a 7-year project, the grant from the CDG provides funding for personnel, equipment, materials and travel costs. Current industrial partners are Anton Paar GmbH, Microinnova Engineering GmbH, Lonza AG and Thales Nanotechnology Inc. Additional projects have been carried out with BASF AG, Clariant AG and other partners.

The team leader

C. Oliver Kappe received his diploma (1989) and his doctoral (1992) degrees in organic chemistry from the University of Graz where he worked with Professor Gert Kollenz on cycloaddition and rearrangement reactions of acylketenes. After periods of postdoctoral research work on reactive intermediates and matrix isolation spectroscopy with Professor Curt Wentrup at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia (1993–1994) and on synthetic methodology/alkaloid synthesis with Professor Albert Padwa at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, USA (1994–1996), he moved back to the University of Graz in 1996 to start his independent academic career. He obtained his “Habilitation” in 1998 in organic chemistry and was appointed Associate Professor in 1999. Since 2011 he has held the position of Professor of “Technology of Organic Synthesis” (Organische Synthesetechnologie) at the University of Graz and since 2006 has been the Director of the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Microwave Chemistry.

The co-author of approximately 300 publications, including several books [1, 2] and key review articles on microwave chemistry [3–5], his current research interests involve enabling technologies for synthesis, including microwave and continuous flow chemistry. C. Oliver Kappe is currently Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Flow Chemistry (Akadémiai Kiadó). For his innovative work in microwave chemistry he received the 2004 Prous Science Award from the European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry and the 2010 Houska Prize in addition to a number of other awards.

Current research activities

Microwave chemistry

With the unique and long-term funding opportunities provided by the CDLMC and the commitment of our industrial partners, the CDLMC is conducting microwave chemistry research in several different areas. As part of the basic research component of this grant, the CDLMC is actively involved in investigating the underlying principles and advantages of carrying out chemical transformations and processes under microwave irradiation conditions. There is still considerable uncertainty and debate on the true nature of “microwave effects” responsible for enhancing chemical transformations, in particular in the field of organic synthesis [6, 7]. The results from these fundamental studies are directly relevant both to the industrial partners of the CDLMC and also to the scientific community in general. Based on these investigations, innovative new applications of microwave heating technology in areas as diverse as, for example, peptide synthesis, proteomics, nanotechnology, polymer synthesis biocatalysis and process research have been explored. Key to the success in many of these fields is the use of dedicated microwave instruments with accurate control of reaction parameters that are available to the group (Figure 1).

One of the biggest problems in microwave chemistry today is the scale-up to multi kg and higher product quantities, clearly limiting the potential of the technology. Applied research at the CDLMC currently centers on investigating the concept of microwave synthesis under continuous flow conditions on large scale, ultimately leading to processes that allow a production capacity of several tons per day.

Figure 1

Dedicated single and multimode microwave reactors available at the CDLMC.

Continuous flow processing

A more recent research theme for the group at the University of Graz has been microreactor chemistry/continuous flow processing. Synthetic chemistry has advanced significantly over the past decades through the application of traditional batchwise techniques. In recent years, however, performing chemical transformations in continuous flow mode has received intense interest from both academic and industrial laboratories. Work at the CDLMC has originally focused on translating batch microwave protocols into scalable continuous flow processes [8]. Nowadays, research on flow chemistry has followed the general theme of process intensification (in particular in a high-temperature/pressure regime [9]) and running hazardous reactions in flow that would be too dangerous to be processed in batch [10]. The most recent concept developed in Graz is the idea of flow nanocatalysis, whereby highly reactive nanosized materials are generated in situ in continuous flow format [11]. In addition, the group also has an interest in synthesizing a variety of different nanomaterials using scalable continuous flow techniques.

In July 2013, the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Microwave Chemistry (CDLMC) will end its operations and will be followed by the Christian Doppler Laboratory for Flow Chemistry (CDLFC). Within the framework of this 7-year project work on flow chemistry, topics will significantly increase at the Graz laboratories.

Corresponding author: C. Oliver Kappe, Institute of Chemistry, Karl-Franzens-University Graz, Heinrichstrasse 28, A-8010 Graz, Austria

References

[1] Kappe CO, Dallinger D, Murphree SS. Practical Microwave Synthesis for Organic Chemists: Strategies, Instruments, and Protocols, Wiley-VCH: Weinheim, 2009.10.1002/9783527623907Search in Google Scholar

[2] Kappe CO, Stadler A, Dallinger D. Microwaves in Organic and Medicinal Chemistry, 2nd ed., Wiley-VCH: Weinheim, 2012.10.1002/9783527647828Search in Google Scholar

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[11] Cantillo D, Baghbanzadeh M, Kappe CO. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201205792.10.1002/anie.201205792Search in Google Scholar PubMed

Received: 2012-8-30

Accepted: 2012-8-30

Published Online: 2012-09-27

Published in Print: 2012-10-01

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