ENCODING METHODS FOR COMBINATORIAL CHEMISTRY

Assuming that the chemical reactions used to synthesize a combinatoria l library member are successful, then knowledge of the specific reacti on sequence is equivalent to knowing the member's chemical identity. B ecause the determination of chemical identity is typically not automat able and requires a substantial amount of material, schemes that encod e a member's reaction history onto the reaction platform are of value. The primary benefits of encoding are relational nomenclature (all met hods) and automated handling (some methods). Encoding methods evaluate d to date are spatial, graphical, chemical, spectrometric, electronic, and physical.