Lab Automation
Recently, automated laboratory systems for carrying out organic reactions have experienced a significant upsurge. They promise to increase reproducibility, throughput and safety while, at the same time, allowing for reactions to be carried out in ever smaller scales. Our group utilizes these modern methodologies to be able to synthesize and test more catalysts and generate insightful data about chemical reactions. Additionally, we connect these automated systems with our computer platform that monitors both computational and experimental workflows to achieve closed-loop operation.
(Compare: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trechm.2020.12.006)
Parallel Catalyst Testing
One of the crucial parts of our closed-loop workflow is testing the performance of catalyst under various reaction conditions. As we aim to test them not only with a range of solvents and temperatures but also on a representative set of substrates, the number of experiments that need to be performed can quickly become prohibitive. To overcome this challenge, we make use of robotic liquid dispensing techniques that facilitate reaction setup and increase throughput. Similarly, we are also integrating analytical techniques directly into our workflow that are capable to analyze a large number of samples within short timeframes so that reaction analytics does not become the limiting step. To achieve that, we rely on a combination of commercial platforms and custom-built systems that can be directly interfaced with our computers allowing for remote control and live process monitoring.
Selected Publications
May 17, 2024
F. Strieth-Kalthoff#, H. Hao#, V. Rathore, J. Derasp, T. Gaudin, N. H. Angello, M. Seifrid, E. Trushina, M. Guy, J. Liu, X. Tang, M. Mamada, W. Wang, T. Tsagaantsooj, C. Lavigne, R. Pollice, T. C. Wu, K. Hotta, L. Bodo, S. Li, M. Haddadnia, A. Wolos, R. Roszak, C. T. Ser, C. Bozal-Ginesta, R. J. Hickman, J. Vestfrid, A. Aguilar-Gránda, E. L. Klimareva, R. C. Sigerson, W. Hou, D. Gahler, S. Lach, A. Warzybok, O. Borodin, S. Rohrbach, B. Sanchez-Lengeling, C. Adachi*, B. A. Grzybowski*, L. Cronin*, J. E. Hein*, M. D. Burke*, A. Aspuru-Guzik*
Science 2024, 384, eadk9227.
November 14, 2022
T. C. Wu#, A. A. Granda#, K. Hotta, S. A. Yazdani, R. Pollice, J. Vestfrid, H. Hao, C. Lavigne, M. Seifrid, N. Angello, F. Bencheikh, J. E. Hein, M. Burke, C. Adachi, A. Aspuru-Guzik*
Adv. Mater. 2023, 35, 2207070.
August 10, 2022
M. Seifrid, R. Pollice, A. Aguilar-Granda, Z. M. Chan, K. Hotta, C. T. Ser, J. Vestfrid, T. C. Wu, A. Aspuru-Guzik*
Acc. Chem. Res. 2022, 55, 2454 - 2466.