Autonomous mobile robots for exploratory synthetic chemistry

This paper demonstrates the integration of a synthesis laboratory into an autonomous system using mobile robots to operate equipment and make decisions in a human-like way. A modular workflow combines mobile robots, an automated synthesis platform, a liquid chromatography–mass spectrometer, and a benchtop nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer. This allows robots to share existing laboratory equipment, enabling rapid experimental workflows. The framework is exemplified using exploratory synthetic chemistry, supporting host–guest chemistry and photochemical synthesis. This strategy is particularly suitable for exploratory chemistry yielding multiple potential products, as seen in supramolecular assemblies, where the method is extended to an autonomous function assay by evaluating host–guest binding properties.

Tianwei Dai, Sriram Vijayakrishnan, Filip T. Szcygielski, Jean-François Ayme, Ehsan Simaei, Thomas Fellowes, Rob Clowes, Lyubomir Kotopov, Caitlin E. Shields, Zhengxue Zhou, John W. Ward, Andrew I. Cooper