Discovering New MCRs with Automated Combinatorial Reaction Finding

3 Discovering New MCRs with Automated Combinatorial Reaction Finding 

An appealing approach to discover innovative MCRs is to use the automated combinatorial reaction finding method, due to the large number of reactions that it studies simultaneously. This combinatorial chemistry approach combines mechanized analytical and reaction preparation systems in order to study the products from a large number of MCRs that are being carried out at the same time in separate well plates [31]. 

FIGURE 1.6 Divergence in MCRs achieved through changing reaction conditions. 

In this approach, a robotic dispensing system prepares the reactions, then they are studied via automated high-performance hquid chromatography (HPLC) and/or mass spectroscopy (MS) systems, and finally, the data is collected and evaluated by a computer. This may save a considerable amount of time, since the exploration of such large number of reactions without using computer-controlled processes would require an enormous amount of time. 

---