Disclaimer: machine translated by DeepL which may contain errors.

~ Message from a graduate student~.
Synthetic Organic Chemistry for Sustainable Society

Ryusuke Masuda

(Department of Chemistry, 2nd Year Doctoral Student)

Birthplace Wakayama Prefecture

High School Chiryo Gakuen Wakayama

Faculty Faculty of Science and Engineering, Sophia University

What are the things around us made of and how are they made? In today's ever-evolving world, opportunities to think in such a way are becoming scarce. I am currently a member of the Synthetic Organic Chemistry Laboratory in the Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science. Synthetic organic chemistry is the study of synthesizing useful chemical substances from simple organic materials such as petroleum. Not only can we freely create substances that support our daily lives, but we can also create new substances that will be useful in the future with our own hands. I chose synthetic organic chemistry because of this fascination.

Among synthetic organic chemistry, I am mainly engaged in the development of novel heterogeneous catalysts ^{(see note)}. Nowadays, environmental pollution, resource depletion, and energy waste have become global problems, and the construction of a sustainable society through the realization of green chemistry is considered to be one of the important missions of scientists. Currently, most industrial chemical production is based on the "batch method," in which reactants are placed in a reaction kiln, flask, or other container at one time and removed together after the reaction. In contrast, the method in which reactants are continuously fed into a reaction column is called the "flow method. In particular, heterogeneous catalysts are considered to be compatible with the flow method. Flow reactions using heterogeneous catalysts do not require separation of the catalyst and target product, and can continuously synthesize the desired amount of the target product. Furthermore, flow reactions have many advantages over batch reactions, such as the ability to perform multi-step reactions in a single system by connecting reaction columns, and are expected to be a more efficient reaction system (Figure). However, the synthesis of complex chemicals by the flow method is very difficult due to the limited examples of highly active heterogeneous catalysts. While flow-based manufacturing is the mainstream for automobiles, electrical appliances, and even food products, fine chemicals such as pharmaceuticals are one of the few products that are currently difficult to manufacture by the flow method. To address this issue, my laboratory is developing novel heterogeneous catalysts for continuous flow synthesis of pharmaceuticals and other products. Through this research, we expect to realize a system that enables the production of a variety of pharmaceuticals with the push of a single switch in the near future.

Continuous Flow and Batch Methods

In synthetic organic chemistry and other experiment-based fields, countless studies have been conducted behind a single reaction that is ultimately considered optimal. The thrill of realizing an unknown phenomenon by one's own hands after such a process of trial and error is irreplaceable. While deep specialization is often seen as one of the strong points of science, I believe that the ability to serve as a bridge between the fundamentals and the applications is another appealing aspect of science. In fact, my laboratory is involved in joint research with several companies. It is very exciting to imagine a future in which my research will be utilized and be useful. I feel that the University of Tokyo's Faculty of Science and Graduate School of Science offers an environment in which I can engage in broad and deep cutting-edge research. I hope that this article will help those who wish to pursue a career in science to take their first steps in this direction.