FAST Hydrogenations as a Continuous Platform for Green Aromatic Nitroreductions

A continuous-flow packed-bed catalytic reactor has been developed for hydrogenation of aromatic nitrobenzoic acids in water to the corresponding anilines. These reductions are green, more efficient, less consumptive and safer reductive processes. Various industrially important aromatic amines have been produced in excellent yields and with high throughput. The optimized continuous flow reduction process produced no detectable Genotoxic Impurity (GTI) intermediates as compared with the corresponding batch mediated reduction. The reactor is modular in design and can be scaled-up for multi-kg/day product delivery without extensive re-design.