From molecule to kilogram, in continuous flow.
An integrated programme spanning drug discovery, reactor engineering, and continuous process development — operating from one of Africa’s largest flow chemistry facilities.
Continuous Process Development
Batch-to-flow translation of API syntheses, scaled from milligrams to kilograms.
Reaction Engineering
Design, fabrication, and characterisation of custom flow reactors and photoreactors.
Drug Discovery
Cholinesterase and kinase inhibitors for Alzheimer’s, supported by computational chemistry.
Lab Automation
Open, low-cost automation hardware for academic and industrial process labs.
From the bench to kiloscale - TRL 6
Bupropion HCl – Continuous Flow Synthesis – Antidepressant
Celecoxib – Improved batch & flow synthesis · COX-2 inhibitor
Lapatinib – Sustainable continuous synthesis · breast cancer therapy
Through a formal partnership with Dr Jenny-Lee Panayides’ team, the group operates from FuturePHARMA in Pretoria — arguably the largest flow chemistry facility on the African continent, with kiloscale capacity and pharma-grade analytics.An integrated programme spanning drug discovery, reactor engineering, and continuous process development — operating from one of Africa’s largest flow chemistry facilities.
Advances in solid handling for continuous flow synthesis of specialty chemicals and pharmaceuticals
Zen Johnston, Thabo Peme, Tommy Mabasa, Christopher Len, Darren Riley, Jenny-Lee Panayides, Cloudius Sagandira, Communications Chemistry, 2026, 9, 101 (I.F. 6 200)
Continuous flow chemistry has transformed the synthesis of pharmaceuticals and specialty chemicals by advancing sustainability, efficiency, and process control. Despite these advantages, the management of solids remains a major challenge, often leading to clogging, inefficient mixing, and limitations in scalability. This review discusses recent strategies developed to overcome these obstacles, including the use of continuous stirred-tank reactors, packed-bed reactors with immobilized reagents, reaction design modifications, Pickering emulsions, colloidal nanoparticle suspensions, and specialised equipment such as agitated tubular reactors, spinning disk reactors, and sonicated systems. By critically assessing these developments, we chart the trajectory toward more resilient and robust flow-based manufacturing, consolidating continuous flow chemistry as a cornerstone of modern chemical manufacturing.
Revitalised Hofmann carbylamine synthesis made possible with flow chemistry
Zen Johnston, Jaimee Jugmohan, Jenny-Lee Panayides and Darren Lyall Riley, Reaction Chemistry and Engineering, 2026, 11, 42-48 (I.F. 3.100)
Isocyanides are of relevance to several scientific fields; however, over the last 150 years only a limited number of synthetic strategies have been reported for preparing them. In a newly developed flow approach, a neglected method for preparing isocyanides, the Hofmann carbylamine reaction, has been revisited and revitalised. The approach developed afforded the preparation of a diverse library of isocyanides in good conversions while only requiring a 15 min residence time at 70 °C. In addition, the method is operationally easy to apply, and it affords several advantages over the more commonly employed strategy of preparing isocyanides which involves the conversion of amines to formamides followed by dehydration to an isocyanide.
Natural acids as catalysts for the continuous flow production of the green solvent 2,2,5,5-tetramethyltetrahydrofuran
Bernice Mercia Currie, Estefan van Vuuren, Jaimee Jugmohan, Jenny-Lee Panayides and Darren Lyall Riley, Tetrahedron Green Chemistry, 2026, 7, 100089 (I.F. 2.400)
As the demand for chemists to adhere to green chemistry principles increases, so does the demand for green solvents. Unfortunately, many green solvents, such as 2,2,5,5-tetramethyltetrahydrofuran (TMTHF), are costly and difficult to source. Traditional synthesis of TMTHF from 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-hexanediol has been reported to be catalysed by acids such as phosphoric and sulfuric acid, or, more recently, by H-beta zeolite. Although H-beta zeolite catalysts are high-yielding and selective, the energy required for their regeneration is high, and their production has questionable environmental impacts. A new approach was developed using flow technologies and naturally occurring acids as catalysts for TMTHF synthesis. Flow technologies are scalable, safe, efficient, and reproducible for daily chemical reactions, aligning with principles of green chemistry. This study observed several key improvements, including i) the use of a natural acid as a catalyst, ii) the use of water as a solvent, and iii) a continuous process for multigram-scale synthesis of TMTHF using citric acid monohydrate, with a yield of 72%, resulting in a throughput of 8.24 g h-1 (9.43 kg L -1 h-1 space-time yield).
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Postgrads and alumni
Work with us
Open to students, postdocs, and industry partners.
We host MSc and PhD candidates in continuous chemistry and reactor engineering, and partner with pharma on technology transfer and process development.
