Rapid Automated Iterative Small Molecule Synthesis

Automated iterative small molecule synthesis has the potential to advance and democratize the discovery of new medicines, materials, and many other classes of functional chemical matter. But to date this approach has been limited by a requirement of about one day of time per C-C bond forming step. Here, we report a nextgeneration small molecule synthesizer which operates at an order of magnitude faster than prior systems through improvements in both chemistry and engineering. These findings move the field of small molecule synthesis a step closer to democratizing its core discovery engine.