From gas-liquid to liquid-liquid: A programmable compartmented droplet microreactor under ambient conditions

A compartmented droplet microreactor enables safe, all-liquid gas reactions. • It achieves high efficiency at ambient pressure without energy input. • Diverse droplet topology serves as a quantitative, real-time dial for kinetics. • Light/pH induce reversible on/off switching and in-situ product separation. • The system integrates reaction, control, and recycling sustainably. The widespread adoption of gas-liquid (G/L) reactions is constrained by intrinsic mass-transfer limitations and inherent difficulty in kinetic control, typically requiring energy-intensive conditions (high pressure, elevated temperature, vigorous agitation). Here, we present programmable compartmented droplet microreactors (CDMs) platform that overcomes these challenges by transforming G/L into liquid-liquid (L/L) reactions via a fluorocarbon-based liquid “gas reservoir”. The proposed CDMs enable efficient multiphasic reactions, achieving 83.7% conversion for benzaldehyde oxidation at conditions of ambient pressure, mild temperature (40 °C), and no stirring during reaction. The CDMs feature a dynamically reconfigurable “two-region, three-interface” architecture that allows the topology to be reversibly switched (double/Janus/inverted double) using light or pH stimuli. This topological tunability provides in-situ, programmable control over reaction kinetics (tunable between 0.3 and 9.2%·h −1 ) and enables triggered product separation with efficient solvent recycling by light stimuli (72% recovery over 4 cycles). This work presents a smart system that marries intrinsic process intensification with spatiotemporal control that combines rapid response with programmable kinetics, offering a versatile platform for conducting safe, efficient, and adaptive multiphase chemistry and offering a new approach to sustainable and intelligent reaction engineering. Download: Download high-res image (140KB) Download: Download full-size image