Ibuprofen can be produced in minutes by mixing reagents as they flow through a series of connecting tubes.

Synthesizing a substance in a continuous-flow process offers more control over reactions and allows less solvent to be used than batch production in flasks. But solid by-products can accumulate, blocking the flow. By varying the width of connecting tubes and using specially designed pumps, David Snead and Timothy Jamison at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge built an apparatus that produces ibuprofen in three minutes with minimal fouling. The five-stage process has three reactions — one of the most complex applications of flow chemistry yet.

A wide variety of other drugs could be synthesized in this way, the authors say.

Angew. Chem. Int. Edn http://doi.org/f2wk4c (2014)