Inline near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has been used to monitor a continuous synthesis of an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) intermediate by a Grignard alkylation reaction. The reaction between a ketone substrate and allylmagnesium chloride may form significant impurities with excess feeding of the Grignard reagent beyond the stoichiometric ratio. On the other hand, limiting this reagent would imply a loss in yield. Therefore, accurate dosing of the two reactants is essential. A feedforward−feedback control loop was conceived in order to maintain the reaction as closely as possible to the stoichiometric ratio, leading the path to full process automation. The feedback control loop relies on NIR transmission measurements performed in a flow cell where, in contrast to labor-intensive offline HPLC analytical methods, the whole reaction product can be scanned in real time without sample dilution. A robust PLS (projection to latent structures) model was developed with a satisfactory standard error of prediction, providing quantification of the ketone substrate in solutions with a high variability of the major solution componentthe alkoxide product. In addition, model performance supervision tools such as the spectral residuals or simple plots of pretreated spectra can assist in the identification of spectral outliers, which in this case could be related to Grignard reagent excess. If the sampling time of the NIR instrument is short enough, manipulating the inputs to the reactor may be used to obtain information about its dynamic behavior. This information is very useful for process control design, assessment of analytical tools and definition of sampling times. In this work, a systematic procedure for chemometric model building is followed, after which a discussion is made on some of the potential applications that can be found when exploiting the fast and rich information provided by NIR spectroscopy.

Continuous hydrolysis of an active pharmaceutical ingredient intermediate, and subsequent liquid−liquid (L-L) separation of the resulting organic and aqueous phases, have been achieved using a simple PTFE tube reactor connected to a miniscale hydrophobic membrane separator. An alkoxide product, obtained in continuous mode by a Grignard reaction in THF, reacted with acidic water to produce partially miscible organic and aqueous phases containing Mg salts. Despite the partial THF− water miscibility, the two phases could be separated at total flow rates up to 40 mL/min at different flow ratios, using a PTFE membrane with 28 cm 2 of active area. A less challenging separation of water and toluene was achieved at total flow rates as high as 80 mL/min, with potential to achieve even higher flow rates. The operability and flexibility of the membrane separator and a plate coalescer were compared experimentally as well as from a physical viewpoint. Surface tension-driven L-L separation was analyzed in general terms, critically evaluating different designs. It was shown that microporous membrane L-L separation can offer very large operating windows compared to other separation devices thanks to a high capillary pressure (Laplace pressure) combined with a large number of pores per unit area offering low pressure drop. The separation device can easily be operated by means of a back-pressure regulator ensuring flow-independent separation efficiency. Simple monitoring and control strategies as well as scaling-up/out approaches are proposed, concluding that membrane-based L-L separation may become a standard unit operation for continuous pharmaceutical manufacturing.

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The experimental realization of a continuous preferential crystallization process, consisting of two mixed-flow crystallizers coupled via crystal-free liquid exchange streams and with only the liquid phases operating continuously, is addressed. Experiments in triplicate, using the conglomerate-forming system of dl-asparagine monohydrate in water, were conducted, and the achievement of nearly racemic composition of the liquid phase in the crystallizers was verified. An experiment was also carried out using seed crystals of a smaller average particle size than used in the reference experiments. Successful enantioseparation by crystal growth, with the repeatability being within ±10% deviation, was obtained. However, slow crystal growth, due to a low surface integration rate, led to a negligible consumption of the desired enantiomer added in the feed solution, resulting in low productivities. Productivities, yields, and purities of solid products were influenced by the morphological differences in the seed crystals. Due to irregularly shaped seed crystals, increase in the productivities and yields were achieved in the L-Tank. Lower purities of solid products from the L-Tank compared to purities of the solid products from the D-Tank were obtained. This could be due to surface nucleation of d-asparagine monohydrate, ascribed to the surface structure of the seeds of l-asparagine monohydrate supplied. Improvements in productivity, yield, and purity in the L-Tank, for the same process duration, were realized using seed crystals of lower average particle size having a smoother surface structure. The main advantages compared to other separation processes are low capital cost, high crystal purity and yield, ease of upscaling, increased safety, and reduced environmental impact due to reduction in the amount of solvent used. The application is currently limited to conglomerate-forming systems, but the separation concept may open new possibilities for process improvements regarding enantioseparation of racemic compound-forming systems as well.

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