Parallel-plate reactor throughput

Khmelnitsky and coworkers have also examined microwave-assisted parallel Hantzsch pyridine synthesis [28], They have demonstrated the benefits of microwave irradiation in a 96-well plate reactor for high throughput, automated production of a pyridine combinatorial library (Scheme 8.20). 

In addition, several articles on microwave-assisted parallel synthesis have described irradiation of 96-well filter-bottom polypropylene plates in conventional household microwave ovens for high-throughput synthesis [16-19]. One interesting article described the construction and use of a parallel polypropylene reactor comprising cylindrical, expandable reaction vessels with porous frits at the bottom [20]. This work presented the very first description of reaction vessels for microwave-assisted synthesis that may be useful for performing solid-phase synthesis using bottom-filtration techniques in conjunction with microwave heating. 

Steps followed in a typical search for a new substance are listed in Fig. 1. Until quite recently, it was not uncommon that all these steps were made manually. A typical such step was, e.g., transferring the liquid sample by a pipette into the test reactor or bioreactor. An acceleration of the throughput was made possible by using titre plate, the device that became a symbol of the activities. In the very minimal case for mere 16 parallel tests, it is shown in Fig. 2. The tested candidate substances are kept in wells made on the plate surface. Usually, they undergo there also the test reaction as well as the subsequent measurement of properties. The number of parallel tests (i.e., the number of the wells) has been gradually increased so that typical numbers... 

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