Linezolid and Catalytic Static Mixers

Our Catalytic Static Mixers (CSMs) featured over on the CSIRO press release site.

Here’s a bit more technical detail that we can share:

The antibiotic Linezolid is used to treat VRE and MRSA.¹ Part of the manufacturing process is a reduction of an aromatic nitro group to an amine as illustrated in the reaction scheme below.

A challenge with the existing methodology is the removal of the palladium catalyst by filtration upon completion of the hydrogenation and recovery of the catalyst.

CSIRO’s catalytic static mixture (CSM) technology can overcome the limitation around the use of Pd-C by immobilizing the palladium catalyst on the surface of a static mixer within a continuous flow reactor fitted with a hydrogen gas line. No leaching of the catalyst is observed making this a highly efficient heterogeneous catalytic reactor.

This is the first example of the CSM flow reactor technology being used to prepare a pharmaceutical API !!!

Dr James Gardiner.

 

1. Marino PL, Sutin KM (2007), “Antimicrobial therapy”, The ICU book, Hagerstown, MD: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, p. 817.