Letter to the Editor concerning “Comparison of the Effects of Stirring and Standing on Chemical Reactions” by Liu et al.
Year: 2026
Type: letter
Abstract: Liu et al. concluded that stirring has an insignificant effect on organic reaction yields. While their extensive dataset is valuable, we identify methodological concerns: (1) omission of established mixing literature, (2) experimental conditions unsuited to time-dependent mixing effects, and (3) statistical treatment potentially obscuring meaningful differences. Our reanalysis shows 3% mean yield improvement with stirring (99.7% confidence). We contextualize these findings within mixing science and highlight photochemical reactions as exceptional cases deserving further study.
Source: Synlett
DOI: 10.1055/a-2788-5075
Authors: Henry Barrington, Marc Reid
Institution: University of Strathclyde
Language: English
Topic: Fluid Dynamics and Mixing
Subfield: Biomedical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funder: UK Research and Innovation
OpenAlex ID: W7124418256