Continuous preparation for rifampicin

To reduce the cost and improve the efficiency for rifampicin preparation, a continuous flow synthesis of rifampicin starting from rifamycin S and tert -butylamine was studied in a microreactor. Two reaction steps and one purification step were coupled in a microreactor, and rifampicin was obtained with 67% overall yield. This method used 25% less 1-amino-4-methyl piperazine and got 16% higher overall yield without changing solvent and purification process between steps. This method has a good potential for further industrial application.