Automating Chemistry Beyond Our Reactive Atmosphere

The digital revolution in chemistry is now regularly demonstrating the potential to change the way we work in the lab and allow for the discovery of vast new chemistries. Despite this, tools to handle the most reactive and air-sensitive sensitive species, such as organometallics, are still limited. This talk will present new strategies to automate some of the most challenging chemical methodologies; and will show, through a case study in copper chemistry, how new digital technologies in the lab can allow us to access molecules which were previously impossible. We will also discuss how automation tools have allowed us to quantify the air sensitivity of reactive compounds for the first time, revealing unexpected factors which can dramatically increase aerobic stability. Finally, we will discuss how a cooperative robotic (cobotic) approach to automation can provide you the opportunity to digitise your lab and facilitate your next discovery.