Extrusion – back to the future: Using an established technique to reform automated chemical synthesis

Herein, the benefits which extrusion can provide for the automated continuous synthesis of organic compounds are highlighted. Extrusion is a well-established technique that has a vital role in the manufacturing processes of polymers, pharmaceuticals and food products. Furthermore, this technique has recently been applied to the solvent-free continuous synthesis of co-crystals and coordination compounds including metal-organic frameworks (MOFs). To date, a vast amount of research has already been conducted into reactive extrusion (REX), particularly in the polymer industry, which in many cases has involved organic transformations, however, it has not received significant recognition for this. This review highlights these transformations and discusses how this previous research can be applied to the future of organic compound manufacture.