Synthesis of organic molecules via spray-drying

Confining chemical reactions within microdroplets has attracted significant attention from chemists due to the accelerated reaction rates resulting from the drastically smaller reaction volumes than in standard solutions. Herein we report that, beyond its widespread use for producing dry-powder formulations for industries (e.g. pharmaceuticals and food) via the atomization of microdroplets followed by drying in a hot gas stream, spray-drying can also be employed in organic synthesis. Specifically, we used spray-drying to run three model reactions: a Schiff-base condensation, a Claisen-Schmidt reaction, and acylation of amines, for synthesizing small organic molecules. Our results showcase that, compared to traditional methods, spray-drying can reduce reaction times without compromising (high) yields, paving the way for its use as a scalable method for industrial-scale organic synthesis.