Combinatorial chemistry, high-speed screening and catalysis

Combinatorial and high-speed screening techniques, which have revolutionize d the search for new drug molecules, are now finding broader application in the chemical and materials development areas. The ability to generate larg e "libraries" of samples and to evaluate their performance simultaneously r educes the time and cost per sample and enables multicomponent parameter sp aces to be explored. In the area of catalyst development, the impact of thi s technology promises to be substantial, not only in synthesis and performa nce evaluation, but also for the optimization of operating parameters. In t his review, the major experimental approaches are described; for heterogene ous catalysts, especially, the parallel approach proves the most useful, ra ther than the "split-and-mix" methods of drug screening. Novel techniques f or the high-speed, parallel performance evaluation of catalyst arrays are r eviewed with numerous recent examples. Indications are provided of expected future trends in this rapidly developing area.