(24d) Spectroscopic Studies of Gas-Liquid Reactions Using Microfluidics for the Study of CO2 Conversion to High-Value Products

We present a new concept for spectroscopic studies of the kinetics of fast gas-liquid reactions involving CO₂. The strategy relies on the microfluidic generation of highly monodisperse gas bubbles in the liquid reaction medium. Characterization of the reaction system was achieved by monitoring time-dependent changes in (i) vibrational spectra of the liquid phase and (ii) changes to bubble dimensions. These measurements were achieved using in situ attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and from the analysis of optical micrographs collected by a high speed camera, respectively. The method can be exploited to study important CO₂ (g) reactions including: reactions with frustrated Lewis pairs, secondary amines, Grignard reactions and enzyme catalysis. This talk will demonstrate that the method enables rapid determination of reaction rate constants and the observation of transient species. The proposed strategy offers new possibilities in studies of rapid multiphase reactions in microfluidic reactors, and can also be combined with high-throughput optimization of reaction conditions for synthesis of high-value products from waste CO₂ gas.