1500 reactions per day go with the flow

An automated flow chemistry system that carries out and analyses one nanoscale reaction every 45 seconds can overcome the problems of traditional reaction screening and could be a boon for drug discovery. Developed by researchers at the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, the machine aims to find ideal conditions for a Suzuki–Miyaura reaction. Although this palladium-catalysed coupling gives access to many pharmaceutical compounds, it requires setting up a complex system of two coupling partners, a catalyst, a base and a solvent mixture, all of which influence the reaction’s outcome.