A universal system for digitization and automatic execution of the chemical synthesis literature

Mehr, S. H. M. , Craven, M., Leonov, A. I., Keenan, G. and Cronin, L. (2020) A universal system for digitization and automatic execution of the chemical synthesis literature. Science, 370(6512), pp. 101-108. (doi: 10.1126/science.abc2986) (PMID:33004517)

Abstract

Robotic systems for chemical synthesis are growing in popularity but can be difficult to run and maintain because of the lack of a standard operating system or capacity for direct access to the literature through natural language processing. Here we show an extendable chemical execution architecture that can be populated by automatically reading the literature, leading to a universal autonomous workflow. The robotic synthesis code can be corrected in natural language without any programming knowledge and, because of the standard, is hardware independent. This chemical code can then be combined with a graph describing the hardware modules and compiled into platform-specific, low-level robotic instructions for execution. We showcase automated syntheses of 12 compounds from the literature, including the analgesic lidocaine, the Dess-Martin periodinane oxidation reagent, and the fluorinating agent AlkylFluor.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Keenan, Mr Graham and Leonov, Mr Artem and Mehr, Dr Hessam and Cronin, Professor Lee and Craven, Mr Matthew
• Authors: Mehr, S. H. M., Craven, M., Leonov, A. I., Keenan, G., and Cronin, L.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Chemistry
• Journal Name: Science
• Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science
• ISSN: 0036-8075
• ISSN (Online): 1095-9203
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Science 370(6512): 101-108
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
190217		Molecular-Metal-Oxide-nanoelectronicS (M-MOS): Achieving the Molecular Limit	Leroy Cronin	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/H024107/1	Chemistry
165511		International Collaboration in Chemistry - Modular microtubular architectures for photo-driven water splitting	Leroy Cronin	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/J00135X/1	Chemistry
166449		Programmable Molecular Metal Oxides (PMMOs) - From Fundamentals to Application	Leroy Cronin	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/J015156/1	Chemistry
190623		The Multi-Corder: Poly-Sensor Technology	David Cumming	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/K021966/1	ENG - Electronics & Nanoscale Engineering
167864		Energy and the Physical Sciences: Hydrogen Production using a Proton Electron Buffer	Leroy Cronin	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)	EP/K023004/1	Chemistry
190796		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	Chemistry
172151		SMARTPOM: Artificial-Intelligence Driven Discovery and Synthesis of Polyoxometalate Clusters	Leroy Cronin	European Research Council (ERC)	670467	Chemistry