Further development of a versatile microscale automated workstation for parallel adaptive experimentation

We have further developed our microscale automated chemistry workstation fo r investigating the optimization of reaction conditions. The workstation in cludes a Cartesian robot for solvent delivery and reagent/sample handling, a 60-vessel reaction block, a UV-Vis absorption spectrometer, and vial rack s for compound storage. This article describes the following hardware addit ions that increase the scope and versatility of the workstation: (a) an ana lytical high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) instrument and accomp anying hardware interface (slide rail, autosampler); (b) three reactor bloc ks of 20 vessels each, with independent temperature control of each reactor block between ca. 0 and 80 degrees C; (c) a shaker rack for mixing, diluti on, or extraction of samples; (d) a rotary valve on the dispense line for c omplete isolation of 4 independent solvent lines; (e) sample workup feature s using disposable cartridges or filters; (f) provisions for dispensing ine rt gas, for example, for flushing through reactors or for storing solvents and performing trans- fer/dispense operations under. Using the new features , we are able to obtain useful analytical data from a wider range of reacti on mixtures, perform par allel reactions at different temperatures, and han dle solvents and sensitive reagents. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.