Synthesis of Organogelators: Pyromellitamides (PMDA-R) and Their Rheological Properties during Commercial Scale-Up

In this study, we synthesized low molecular weight organogelators, pyromellitamides (PMDA-R) and investigated the effect of product composition on their viscosity-increasing ability, focusing on the differences between synthetic conditions and those used when scaling up production. We regarded PMDA-2C 8 /oleyl as a target material and synthesized the compound in both a 50 mL flask and a 1 L flask as laboratory-level syntheses. The effects of both temperature and stirring conditions on the composition and performance of the synthesized organogelators were evaluated by the steady flow characteristics and by the viscoelasticity of the solutions dissolved in isododecane. The experimental results showed that increasing the reaction temperature to shorten the reaction time resulted in significant differences in product composition. Although the rheological properties of the solutions showed similar trends in some cases, morphological observation by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that the self-organizing structures formed by the different compositions were com-pletely different from each other. Synthesis was also carried out in a commercial-scale reactor. This study provided useful information for ‘process intensification’ by focusing on changes in products during scale-up.