Universal chemical synthesis and discovery with 'The Chemputer'

Gromski, P. S., Granda, J. M. and Cronin, L. (2020) Universal chemical synthesis and discovery with 'The Chemputer'. Trends in Chemistry, 2(1), pp. 4-12. (doi: 10.1016/j.trechm.2019.07.004)

Abstract

There is a growing drive in the chemistry community to exploit rapidly growing robotic technologies along with artificial intelligence-based approaches. Applying this to chemistry requires a holistic approach to chemical synthesis design and execution. Here, we outline a universal approach to this problem beginning with an abstract representation of the practice of chemical synthesis that then informs the programming and automation required for its practical realization. Using this foundation to construct closed-loop robotic chemical search engines, we can generate new discoveries that may be verified, optimized, and repeated entirely automatically. These robots can perform chemical reactions and analyses much faster than can be done manually. As such, this leads to a road map whereby molecules can be discovered, optimized, and made on demand from a digital code.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Granda, Dr Jaroslaw and Gromski, Dr Piotr and Cronin, Professor Lee
• Authors: Gromski, P. S., Granda, J. M., and Cronin, L.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing; College of Science and Engineering > School of Chemistry
• Journal Name: Trends in Chemistry
• Publisher: Elsevier (Cell Press)
• ISSN: 2589-7209
• ISSN (Online): 2589-5974
• Published Online: 15 August 2019
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2019 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Trends in Chemistry 2(1):4-12
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
50329	5	Molecular-Metal-Oxide-nanoelectronicS (M-MOS): Achieving the Molecular Limit	Leroy Cronin	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/H024107/1	CHEM - CHEMISTRY
57739	1	Programmable Molecular Metal Oxides (PMMOs) - From Fundamentals to Application	Leroy Cronin	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/J015156/1	CHEM - CHEMISTRY
60582	1	The Multi-Corder: Poly-Sensor Technology	David Cumming	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/K021966/1	ENG - ENGINEERING ELECTRONICS & NANO ENG
63382	1	A Digital DNA Nano Writer (DNA NanoFab)	Leroy Cronin	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/L015668/1	CHEM - CHEMISTRY
64661	1	Programmable 'Digital' Synthesis for Discovery and Scale-up of Molecules, Clusters and Nanomaterials	Leroy Cronin	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/L023652/1	CHEM - CHEMISTRY
68574	1	SMARTPOM: Artificial-Intelligence Driven Discovery and Synthesis of Polyoxometalate Clusters	Leroy Cronin	European Research Council (ERC)	670467	CHEM - CHEMISTRY