Herewith a new process
concept for synthesis is presented which
combines both UV-photoirradiation and high-p,T intensification (photo-high-p,T)
in continuous flow. The application of this procedure to Vitamin D3 synthesis promotes thermal shifting of the equilibrium from
the reaction intermediate to the product. This is enabled by microreactors
which allow operation under harsh conditions such as the high temperature
used here. This provides, to our best knowledge, a new kind of process
combination (novel process window). As a result, in less than 1 min,
42% conversion of 7-dehydrocholesterol can be achieved giving
a 17% yield and 40% selectivity of Vitamin D3. This approach
enhances productivity by up to 2 orders of magnitude compared with
the current capillary based vitamin D3 synthesis, because,
under the microflow conditions, photochemistry can be performed at
fairly high concentration and up to 20 times faster.