ac060481q_si_001.pdf (43.53 kB)
Ionic Liquid Droplet as e-Microreactor
journal contribution
posted on 2006-07-15, 00:00 authored by Philippe Dubois, Gilles Marchand, Yves Fouillet, Jean Berthier, Thierry Douki, Fatima Hassine, Said Gmouh, Michel VaultierA powerful approach combining a droplet-based, open
digital microfluidic lab-on-a-chip using task-specific ionic
liquids as soluble supports to perform solution-phase
synthesis is reported as a new tool for chemical applications. The negligible volatility of ionic liquids enables their
use as stable droplet reactors on a chip surface under air.
The concept was validated with different ionic liquids and
with a multicomponent reaction. Indeed, we showed that
different ionic liquids can be moved by electrowetting on
dielectric (EWOD), and their displacement was compared
with aqueous solutions. Furthermore, we showed that
mixing ionic liquids droplets, each containing a different
reagent, in “open” systems is an efficient way of carrying
supported organic synthesis. This was applied to Grieco's
tetrahydroquinolines synthesis with different reagents.
Analysis of the final product was performed off-line and
on-line, and the results were compared with those obtained in a conventional reaction flask. This technology
opens the way to easy synthesis of minute amounts of
compounds ad libitum without the use of complex,
expensive, and bulky robots and allows complete automation of the process for embedded chemistry in a portable
device. It offers several advantages, including simplicity
of use, flexibility, and scalability, and appears to be
complementary to conventional microfluidic lab-on-a-chip
devices usually based on continuous-flow in microchannels.