Adaptive and automated system-optimization for heterogeneous flow-hydrogenation reactions

The hydrogenation of carbonyl compounds over a solid Pd/C catalyst to the corresponding alcohols and of N-heterocycles over a solid Ir@CNT catalyst to the corresponding amines with gaseous hydrogen from water electrolysis without human interaction is presented. This is achieved in three-dimensional parameter space (flow rate, temperature and hydrogen pressure) through an integration of inline FTIR-analysis, a simplex control algorithm and an H-Cube microreactor setup. The simplex method can cope with an initial transient behaviour which is characteristic for heterogeneous catalysis.