Robot chemist snaps 3D building blocks together like Lego to make complex molecules
Automated synthesiser uses a new class of boronates that are a thousand times more stable than those previously used
An automated platform that can make complex and functionally rich 3D molecules quickly and easily has been developed by US scientists.1 The synthesiser, which is an improved version of a system they created in 2015,2 is based on a new type of very stable building block and opens completely new possibilities in organic synthesis and drug discovery.
Martin Burke from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign notes that small organic molecules rich in 3D carbon atoms that precisely display chemical information in space are extremely important in chemistry and medicine but points out that only highly trained specialists are usually able to make such complex structures. ‘We now created a robot that snaps three-dimensional building blocks together over and over again, providing push-button access to this class of chemical matter,’ he says. ’This is an important step to democratising molecular innovation in this space.’