(485f) Keynote Talk: The Roadmap to an Autonomous Chemistry Lab

Current approaches to chemical synthesis rely on time-consuming planning and labor-intensive manual synthesis, which is a rate-limiting step in the discovery of new functional molecules, a significant contributor to the overall cost of preclinical development, and clearly incompatible with the goals of autonomous discovery. In this talk, I will outline the components of a hypothetical autonomous synthesis laboratory designed to facilitate the development and manufacture of new small molecules. We will talk through the hierarchical process of computer-aided synthesis planning, starting from a list of molecules of interest and ending with an optimal schedule of automation-friendly action sequences for their sequential or parallel synthesis. Throughout, I will discuss our and others’ progress towards this goal and where the primary technological barriers lay.