Although the automatic synthesis of molecules has been established, each reaction class uses bespoke hardware. This means that the connection of multi-step syntheses in a single machine to run many different protocols and reactions is not possible, as manual intervention is required. Here we show how the Chemputer synthesis robot can be programmed to perform many different reactions, including solid-phase peptide synthesis, iterative cross-coupling and accessing reactive, unstable diazirines in a single, unified system with high yields and purity. Developing universal and modular hardware that can be automated using one software system makes a wide variety of batch chemistry accessible. This is shown by our system, which performed around 8,500 operations while reusing only 22 distinct steps in 10 unique modules, with the code able to access 17 different reactions. We also demonstrate a complex convergent robotic synthesis of a peptide reacted with a diazirine—a process requiring 12 synthetic steps.

尽管分子的自动合成已经建立，但每个反应类都使用定制的硬件。这意味着在一台机器中连接多步合成来运行许多不同的方案和反应是不可能的，因为需要手动干预。在这里，我们展示了如何对 Chemputer 合成机器人进行编程以执行许多不同的反应，包括固相肽合成、迭代交叉偶联以及在单一、统一的系统中以高产率和纯度获取反应性、不稳定的二氮丙啶。开发可使用一个软件系统实现自动化的通用模块化硬件，使多种批量化学分析变得可用。我们的系统显示了这一点，该系统执行了大约 8,500 次操作，同时仅重用 10 个独特模块中的 22 个不同步骤，代码能够访问 17 种不同的反应。我们还展示了与二氮丙啶反应的肽的复杂聚合机器人合成，该过程需要 12 个合成步骤。