The next #2 CEISAM Lecture from Tanja Junkers will take place on 05-07-2022 (9:30) by visioconference. Prof. Tanja Junkers is working at Monash University (Australia). She works in the area of polymer chemistry and develop innovative monitoring approaches and automated technologies of synthesis.
Visioconference (Zoom)
Meeting ID: 897 8452 0488
Passcode: 653730
It’s a Machines World: Challenges and Opportunities in Automated Polymer Synthesis
Contemporary macromolecular chemistry has matured to a point where virtually any polymer structure can be synthesized via combinations of controlled polymerization approaches, post-polymerization modification and efficient ligation strategies. Still, often large hurdles have to be overcome to take the next step in research, that is being able to provide such complex materials reliably on significant scale for use in advanced applications. A solution to this problem is to make use of continuous flow synthesis techniques. Flow reactors are associated with high reproducibility, intrinsically simple reaction scale-up and improved product qualities due to significant reduction of side reactions. Being an established method especially in the pharmaceutical chemistry domain, full potential with regards to macromolecular synthesis did not unfold until very recently. Among others, the benefits of using online-monitoring, reactor automation and machine-learning will be discussed and the development of fully autonomous based reactor systems presented. Also polymer self-assembly itself can largely benefit from flow operation, and first advances in this area will be presented.
The potential of flow chemistry for preparative macromolecular chemistry will be discussed and explored on the example of polymerization. Further, the possibility to build reactor cascades and the advantages of online-monitoring will be highlighted. Machine-assisted synthesis of polymers is shown to be superior in accuracy in synthesis. Generally, the introduction of smart algorithms in synthesis control opens avenues into the digital chemistry space, and challenges and opportunities in this realm will be discussed.
Biography Prof. Tanja Junkers
Associate editor of the RSC journal Chemical Science
Associate editor of the RSC journal Polymer Chemistry
School of Chemistry, Monash University, Australia
Phone: +61399054524 E-mail: tanja.junkers@monash.edu
Personal History:
Since 2018 Full Professor Monash University, Australia
2010-2018 Professor, Hasselt University, Belgium
2008-2010 Senior Scientist, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany
2006-2008 Research Associate, University of New South Wales, Australia
2002-2006 PhD in Physical Chemistry, Georg-August University Göttingen, Germany
2002 Diploma/MSc in Pure Chemistry, Georg-August University Göttingen, Germany
Research interests
polymer synthesis, flow chemistry, precision polymers, kinetics and mechanisms, machine-learning, photochemistry
www.polymatter.net @polymerreaction
Contact: jean-nicolas.dumez@univ-nantes.fr