Chemical reactors reinvent the way scientists work, enabling the generation of more information per experiment and accelerating the delivery of life-changing products. Automated chemical synthesis reactors are well established in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, and they are essential to speed up time-to-market cycles at lower R&D costs.
The innovative chemical synthesis reactors EasyMax™ and OptiMax™ are easy-to-use platforms that accurately execute recipes and precisely control reaction parameters, thus enabling highly reproducible reactions. Experiment procedures can be run unattended around the clock, and all data is automatically recorded, and ready to be instantly shared.
The ideal parallel synthesis workstation to replace the round-bottom flask in the lab. Read more
Automated parallel synthesis workstation with larger reaction vessels. Read more
Simplify organic chemistry and eliminate dangerous handling of oil and ice baths. Read more
Based on our partnerships with leading scientists, we understand the challenges faced in chemical labs. Our chemical reactors are designed to minimize bottlenecks and maximize efficiency.
More than ever, scientists are looking to automate tedious and manual chemical synthesis procedures. Automation of reaction conditions, experiment controls, and data collection increases personal productivity while ensuring safe operations day and night.
With reactor volumes ranging from lab to plant scale, we offer a comprehensive selection of chemical synthesis equipment and accessories to meet your unique application:
EasyMax™ chemical synthesis reactors in LowTemp (LT) reactor models expand the temperature design space down to -90°C. This helps you both design reactions including organometallic metalation and lithiation reactions and optimize processes at subambient conditions, paving the way for the discovery of new synthetic pathways.
Unlike traditional equipment with discrete temperatures at 0°C, -21°C (sodium chloride in ice), and -78°C (acetone/dry ice), our low temp reactors precisely control experimental conditions along a broad temperature range – even when unattended.
Discover breakthrough molecules and explore novel synthetic steps. With a broad application range, automated chemical reactors pose no limits on your creativity and productivity in the chemical synthesis laboratory. Reactor volumes range from 8 ml tubes to 1 L vessels, and one- or two-piece reactors fit your chemistry and workflow.
Chemical synthesis reactors operate at temperatures from -90°C to 180°C and offer overhead and magnetic stirring, as well as vacuum, ambient and high-pressure chemistry, making it easy and enjoyable to solve complex chemistry problems.
OptiMax™ lab reactor systems are designed to ensure safe, robust, and scalable processes. Researchers can characterize and optimize chemical reactions on the liter scale before going to manufacturing. OptiMax™ chemical reactors are applied for go/no-go safety considerations when scaling up by identifying enthalpy, heat capacity, heat, and mass transfer under process-like conditions. The synthesis reactors are widely applied when engineering particles by (re)crystallization with particle size analyzers.
Solutions that enable a culture of safety must fulfill the needs of every scientist, minimize all risks to ensure maximum personal safety, enable the development of process conditions that match large-scale operations, and assess hazards to predict the risks of a process.
We developed EasyMax™, a chemical reaction workstation that helps maximize personal safety in the laboratory by controlling preprogrammed reactions safely and automatically to limit or eliminate chemical exposure. Reduce exposure risk and design processes that are inherently safer.
"With the EasyMax, we get more successful experiments done and develop better processes."
"The EasyMax touchpad and vessel setup is easy and state-of-the-art. I can plan reactions ahead so I can focus on my chemistry rather than working on equipment issues…"
"We have distributed EasyMax units to individual users and established walk-up EasyMax workstations and they are used in both early- and late-stage development."
"The EasyMax system is simple, reliable and is the workhorse in our lab. Our enjoyment of this product extends beyond the equipment itself …"
Every scientist needs to gain information to answer critical questions when innovating molecules, optimizing reaction routes, and creating robust and safe processes. METTLER TOLEDO chemical synthesis reactors integrate seamlessly with in-situ probes, including the EasySampler automated sampling system, ReactIR FTIR spectrometers, and particle size analyzers. The consolidated data stream of reaction parameters together with information on kinetics, reaction mechanisms, impurity profiles, and particle attributes provides critical answers when adapting lab processes to the plant. The integrated solution enables scientists to deliver life-changing products faster and more cost-efficiently.
Chemical synthesis reactors are vessels in which chemical reactions take place. Reaction parameters, such as temperature, dosing, stirring, and sampling, are set to perform a synthesis reaction. The accuracy and precision of those reaction parameters play an important role in the selectivity, conversion, and reproducibility of the chemical reaction.
There are three types of chemical reactors:
Batch reactors are stirred tank reactors where the chemical reaction occurs in a confined space over a period of time.
Continuous stirred-tank reactors, or semi-batch reactors, have reactants continuously added and (by)products are removed.
Plug-flow reactors are usually tubular reactors, where the conversion of chemical reactions is influenced by residential time.
The preparation of manual lab equipment tends to be cumbersome and slow while putting the scientist at risk of exposure. Traditional setups also tend to be poorly controlled when it comes to limiting the reaction parameter range, including T, p, pH, and sampling, which risks inconsistent and non-reproducible results. Information gaps limit understanding if data is not recorded or documentation is lost.
METTLER TOLEDO automated chemical synthesis reactor systems are designed for quick start-up, easy handling, precise control, intrinsic safety, and seamless data analysis and reporting.
Additionally, the RX-10 reactor control system can connect to your existing jacketed lab reactor to automate cumbersome tasks for those who do not need full workstation setups. This reactor control system uses the same touchscreen interface as the full workstations for seamless workflows.
Because our chemical synthesis reactors are designed to minimize bottlenecks and maximize the efficiency of the chemical laboratory, our models easily enable Design of Experiment (DoE) studies to produce high-quality experimental data. You can use METTLER TOLEDO reactors to optimize reaction and process parameters and explore how various combinations of settings such as temperature, pH, dosing, and stirring affect outcomes.
EasyMax Advanced offers more features than its Basic counterpart. The Advanced personal synthesis workstation offers a more comprehensive information management platform, including graph trends and task sequences on the touchscreen and full data capture/experiment documentation. You can also easily integrate and add the capabilities of:
The 102 and 402 designations indicate the maximum volume and number of reactors available in the given workstation (i.e. 102 = up to two 100 ml vessels, while 402 = up to two 400 ml vessels)
See all Basic and Advanced models:
Yes! Extend your reactor for automated control and data capture of 3rd party devices including sensors and dosing/sampling solutions with the Easy Control Box (ECB) accessory, purchased separately.
ECB provides dosing control capabilities and easily connects commercially available pumps and balances for automated pre-programmed gravimetric or volumetric dosing. The accessory has plug-and-measure functionality with SmartConnect technology sensors. Control elements are automatically recognized, making reactor configuration simple and easy.
Below is a selection of publications about chemical synthesis reactors.