The magic of automation technology is slowly changing the chemical industry. Two of the recent breakthrough inventions in the chemical industry are combinatorial chemistry and high throughput screening (HTS). Combinatorial chemistry is a relatively new strategy that has been developed over the past few years. It has proved to be highly beneficial in reducing the time for the discovery of chemical substances. How exactly does combinatorial chemistry work, you wonder? In simple terms, it is all about creating a large number of molecular substances and then rapidly testing them for desirable properties.
How is combinatorial chemistry different from conventional techniques?
The conventional techniques of chemistry are all about one molecule at a time discovery strategy. However, combinatorial technique involves creating a large number of molecular elements in one go. While only a few hundreds of molecules are discovered using conventional strategy, thousands of molecules are discovered using combinatorial techniques in the time frame of a month. Also, what makes combinatorial chemistry more reliable compared to conventional strategy is that the risk of failure is much lower compared to the latter.
What are the benefits of process automation in combinatorial chemistry?
Now that you know how combinatorial techniques are different from the conventional methods in the chemical industry, here are a few advantages of resorting to automation techniques in combinatorial chemistry that makes it a breakthrough invention in the field of chemistry:
- Fast – The time taken by conventional techniques to produce one compound is the same as the time taken by a combinatorial strategy to generate millions of compounds by process automation. This makes them a much faster method of synthesis.
- Easier process – The process of identification and purification of the active molecules from a combinatorial collection or library becomes relatively easier with automation.
- Safer workplace – Combinatorial chemistry and automation technology make the workplace safer for employees in the pharmaceutical industry by making them aware of the potentially dangerous combinations and conditions.
- High success rate – Combinational strategies that are incorporated with automation technology have a higher success rate compared to the conventional methods
