Photochemical Reactor

In certain photochemical transformations in solid-phase synthesis it is desirable to irradiate a sample while under continuous agitation in order to selectively break chemical bonds within a homogenous mixture.  These bonds are wavelength specific, and the solvents that the mixture are suspended in are temperature sensitive.  For these reasons, using a highly specific wavelength of light aids in keeping total system energy, and therefore temperature, low, and results in higher chemical yields in less time and with lower evaporated solvent.

The Mini-CUPR (Miniature Cyclonic Ultraviolet Photochemical Reactor) was developed to meet these specific needs.  The system is mounted on top of a standard vortex mixer and consists of a frame to loosely hold the vial while being shaken by the vortex mixer, and a custom designed stainless-steel chamber printed out of stainless steel on our in-house metal 3D printer.  The printed circuit boards (PCBs) hold 96 LEDs that output 365nm light onto the sample.  The PCBs are specially designed to pull heat generated by the LEDs to the outside of the chamber and conduct it into the metal outer chamber to keep inner chamber temperatures cool.