Efficient synthesis of Vitamin D3 in a 3D ultraviolet photochemical microreactor fabricated using an ultrafast laser

Abstract

Large-scale, high-precision, and high-transparency microchannels hold great potential for developing high-performance continuous-flow photochemical reactions. We demonstrate ultrafast laser-enabled fabrication of 3D microchannel reactors in ultraviolet (UV) grade fused silica which exhibit high transparency under the illumination of UV light sources of wavelengths well below 300 nm with excellent mixing efficiency. With the fabricated glass microchannel reactors, we demonstrate continuous-flow UV photochemical synthesis of vitamin D3 with low power consumption of the UV light sources.