Automated custom complex molecular synthesis
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.028707
Nature : Marty Burke of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his colleagues have developed a system that may significantly simplify a time-intensive process for chemists: creating complex synthetic molecules. The computerized network of pumps and syringes manipulates a library of commercially available molecular compounds to combine them in the order programmed by the user. Similar techniques have been developed in the past, but Burke’s machine includes a process that automates the removal of excess material and isolates the newly combined molecule for use in subsequent steps. The result is the first automatic system that can produce ring-shaped and branching molecules.