News Picture Generic

Automation of synthesis in medicinal chemistry: progress and challenges

April 1, 2021

ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters

Since the 1990s, concerted attempts have been made to improve the efficiency of medicinal chemistry synthesis tasks using automation. Although impacts have been seen in some tasks, such as small array synthesis and reaction optimization, many synthesis tasks in medicinal chemistry are still manual. As it has been shown that synthesis technology has a large effect on the properties of the compounds being tested, this review looks at recent research in automation relevant to synthesis in medicinal chemistry. A common theme has been the integration of tasks, as well as the use of increased computing power to access complex automation platforms remotely and to improve synthesis planning software. However, there has been more limited progress in modular tools for the medicinal chemist with a focus on autonomy rather than automation.

For details: 
Automation of synthesis in medicinal chemistry: progress and challenges

Elizabeth Farrant

New Path Molecular Research Ltd, Building 580, Babraham Research Campus, Cambridge CB22 3AT, U.K.

ACS Med. Chem. Lett. 2020, 11, 8, 1506-1513 
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmedchemlett.0c00292
Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society

For more information about Chemspeed solutions:

FLEX ISYNTH for library synthesis

ISYNTH AI

ISYNTH REACTSCREEN

For details please contact [email protected]

Other Recent News

Discover more news articles you might be interested in

Read more about Accelerating Porosity Assessment in Solid Materials via SemiAutomated Platforms
News Picture 1 1 V2
Featured
Apr
21

Accelerating Porosity Assessment in Solid Materials via SemiAutomated Platforms

The design and discovery of porous materials have become a central theme in materials science, driven by their applications in gas storage, separation, carbon capture, and catalysis. Rapid advances in synthetic chemistry, particularly in metal–organic frameworks, porous organic cages, and conjugated microporous polymers, have enabled the generation of increasingly large and diverse material libraries.

Read more about Implementation of Large-Scale Multi-Reactor Automation for Process Development
News Picture 1 1 V2
Apr
14

Implementation of Large-Scale Multi-Reactor Automation for Process Development

Pharmaceuticals increasing complexity requires longer synthesis with unique processes for each step, increasing the number of experiments to develop robust sustainable processes. The time to develop these processes is getting shorter, and automation can support the growing need to efficiently perform more experiments.

© Chemspeed Technologies 2026