Many new reactions using organic electrosynthesis have been developed over the last decade. However, these reactions often require specialized reactors, some developed in-house for a specific purpose and some commercially available.  The ElectraSyn 2.0 from the company IKA is one platform for general electrosynthesis. It is a device that combines electrosynthesis, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and a stirrer. It can provide reproducibility through the use of standardized components. However, the standardized nature of the cells and electrodes limits the configurations of reactors and parameters that are available for reaction optimization. In addition, the components can be expensive.

To bridge the gap between the customizability of in-house machined reactors and the reproducibility of commercially available reactors, Alastair Lennox, University of Bristol, UK, and colleagues have developed Open-ESyn, a suite of 3D-printed components that are compatible with the ElectraSyn device. These components can increase the range of reactions, components, and paprameters that can be used with the system. They can be downloaded and inexpensively recreated.

The team designed a variety of components, such as vials printed in polypropylene (PP), a dual-walled reaction vessel that can be heated by pumping hot water through its outer compartment, electrode clips that can accommodate  “homemade” electrodes, new types of lids that allow different arrangements of electrodes, an adapter for the use of other reaction setups, etc. Overall, the work expands the range of transformations that can be performed with the system.

• Open‐ESyn: A 3D‐Printed Toolkit for Expanded ElectraSyn Functionality and Reproducibility for Electrosynthesis,
  Anthony Choi, David M. Heard, Calum S. Haydon, Alastair J. J. Lennox,
  ChemElectroChem 2024.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/celc.202400454