Background

Organolithium reagents enable valuable transformations and are widely commercially available as solutions in various organic solvents, however, their high reactivity means that they need to be handled with special care; which includes the use of low temperatures and inert atmospheres. This introduces significant additional hazards and costs for industrial use and makes the use of organolithium reagents challenging for non-specialist researchers. Therefore there is significant potential for additional growth if these reagents could be made simpler to use and easier to handle.

Organolithium reagents are a very important part of organic chemistry, allowing the synthesis of new carbon-carbon bonds and are used in global chemical research and development laboratories. Most notably they are applied in the industrial synthesis of a range of pharmaceuticals as well as in the industrial production of elastomer polymers synthesised by anionic polymerisation. They also have applications in agrochemicals.

Technology Overview

This new method develops organolithium gels that facilitate the application of organolithium reagents by stabilising them and acting as simple delivery vehicles. Taming hazardous organolithium reagents will revolutionise the field, making these reactions safer and cheaper in an industrial setting and accessible to non-specialist researchers.

Benefits

This innovative technology would provide a prospective licensee with significant market differentiation from their competitors. The prospective product offers greater shelf life, ease of handling, reaction dosing, and health and safety improvements which can then be sold at a premium price to potential end-users. Reduced costs through decreased storage, longer shelf life and lower health and safety burdens through simpler practices are key improvements to current offerings and have been identified as important market drivers, as they bear a high marginal cost in chemical processes.

Furthermore, additional value-adding elements of this new gel approach when compared to wax capsules include:

Ease of manufacture/loading
Solvent compatibility with the gel-type material
Low loading levels of the stabilising agent
Consistent reagent loading throughout the gel

Applications

Development of organolithium gels would bring large advantages to non-specialist researchers who would normally be reticent in using organolithium reagents in their own synthetic chemistry. Gels are an ideal dosing form for kit-type chemistry, in which non-specialists can buy pre‑measured reagents within a gel cube and then simply add it to their reaction to achieve the desired result. All of this would be delivered without the need for special working procedure commonly used with organolithium chemistry and would broaden their potential scope and application, creating new markets.

Opportunity

Following a filed patent application, the team is seeking potential co-development and licence partners that can mutually exploit the commercial potential for this technology.

Organolithium Gels for Reaction Engineering

IP Status

Seeking