ABSTRACT
Over the last decades, microtechnology has received a great deal of attention. Its application rapidly grows in many areas, as evident, for example, in electronics and engineering. e development of microstructured devices for chemical reactions was observed only within the last 10 years.1-12 Miniaturization of chemical reactors oers many practical advantages of relevance to the pharmaceutical and ne chemicals industry.13,14 Also, the possibility of preparing chemicals in the required volume at the point of use neglects the need to store and transport hazardous materials. e small scales of microreactions make them additionally advantageous for green chemistry.15-19 Since light is regarded as a “clean reagent,” organic photochemistry can likewise serve as a green synthetic method.20-23 e potential of organic photochemistry as a powerful synthesis method is furthermore well documented, and a number of elegant chemo-and enantioselective transformations with high chemical and quantum yields have been realized.24-26 e combination of microtechnology and photochemistry, that is, microphotochemistry, thus represents a promising and appealing new concept (Figure 3.1).27-29
Immersion well reactors or chamber reactors (Figure 3.2) are most commonly used in conventional laboratory-scale photochemistry.30 e total volume of such laboratory batch systems is typically limited to 1 L. As common light sources, single low-, medium-, or high-pressure mercury lamps are used in immersion well reactors, while an array of ’uorescent lamps is used for chamber reactors.
