Video 1: How to dry and purge a reactor vessel prior to use
In this video we give a how to guide on drying a jacketed jab and associated glassware in situ, prior to use.
All wetted apparatus including glassware should be clean and dry before starting any chemical process. On a small scale, glassware like round bottom flasks, pressure equalised feed funnels, condensers etc are often dried in a vacuum oven. This applies a gentle heat and a vacuum for an appropriate time, to remove any moisture which might affect the chemistry.
The exact procedure detailing what the temperature should be, what level of vacuum and for how long, is usually described in a standard operating procedure (SOP) which can be supplied by the lab supervisor.
As the processes scale up, it becomes more cumbersome to dry glassware in the same way. The apparatus gets larger and heavier, manual handling becomes more difficult and vacuum ovens would also need to be bigger, taking up more space in the lab.
Therefore, it is common practice with larger glass reaction systems, to dry and purge all apparatus in situ.
This has many practical benefits, saving time and adopting safer working practices.
By NOT having to remove a vessel and its overhead accessories such as condensers, reflux dividers, feed vessels from the framework, the risk of damage to the glass is significantly reduced.
Once the entire system is clean and dry, it is often a good idea to purge with a dry gas like Nitrogen or Argon, having a slight positive pressure to minimises the risk water contamination before the system is used.
Typically, a vacuum manifold assembly or Schlenk manifold is available in the fume hood to connect both vacuum and Nitrogen, switching between the two using valves integrated in the manifold. The manifold is often connected to the top of the condenser, or a port on the lid of thereactor. The slight over pressure safely vents via a bubbler or pressure relief valve in the system.
Drying and purging chemical reaction systems is a requirement in most scale up chemistry processes. Contamination and cleanability of chemical reaction systems is a subject for consideration when choosing which apparatus is most appropriate for a given application.
Video 2: Why chemists love Mya 4
In this video we will share the top five reasons chemists love the Mya 4Reaction Station.
The Mya 4 is an automated 4 zone reaction station offering safe and precise heating, active cooling, software control and data logging for continuous unattended operation. With numerous features and benefits, we asked our customers which ones they value the most.
What was clear from the outset it didn’t matter if the customer was working in Pharma, or for a CRO (Contract Research Organisation); in life sciences or pharmaceuticals, the responses were often the same. Here’s what they valued the most.
Datalogging provides the chemist with information rich results. With all parameters recorded and reported there are no unknowns. In addition, these can be rapidly shared with an electronic notebook or another lab anywhere in the world.
Controlled cooling allows the Mya 4 to operate at temperatures down to-30°C broadening the organic chemistry that can be performed. Being able to respond to any exotherm increases safety and crystallisations with cooling ramps are easily achieved.
Ease of use is critical. The intuitive interface on the control pad takes seconds to enter the reaction parameters and requires minimal training. Equally, setting up the glassware is simple: swapping from vials, to flasks to process vessels with overhead stirring in no time at all.
Flexibility in scale and temperature is highly valued. Having the ability to swap from small scale parallel experiments to larger process type vessels allows the chemist to rapidly adapt to project requirements. Also, achieving up to 200°C between zones with no interference ensures the chemistry of all reactions is not compromised.
Lastly, Design of Experiment (DoE) & scale up. With benefits such as precise temperature control and parallel chemistry the Mya 4 is perfect to conduct your DoE. Then transferring from smaller scale to the larger process chemistry vessels allows fast and efficient scale up
