Traversing Geodesics in Discovery-Development Space - from Novel Electrophotocatalysis to Sustainable and Scalable Manufacturing Processes

Current mainstream approaches for the chemical production of active ingredients in the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industries utilize thermal energy to drive conventional ionic processes (transfer of two electrons). Employment of other forms of energy can lead to the development of new synthetic and production processes, thus resulting in a vast expansion of the chemical spaces. Our primary objectives in this research project are to combine solar energy and electricity to create innovative process technologies driven by single electron transfer (SET) events. We will design and develop novel electrophotocatalysis capable of precise control of electrons and ions to enable the desired syntheses of various active pharmaceutical and agrochemical ingredients. Furthermore, to translate the newly developed electrophotocatalysis efficiently into sustainable manufacturing, we plan to concurrently develop new workflows, including high-throughput screening, and groundbreaking reactor designs by combining chemistry, engineering, multi-scale modelling, and data science. The proposed work will be enabled by the synergy of the multidisciplinary expertise in the project team, spanning synthetic chemistry, catalysis, electrochemistry, photochemistry, materials chemistry, computational modelling, and chemical engineering, supported by strong collaborations with our industry partners in Syngenta, a world-leading agrochemical company.