The complexity of synthetic chemistry increases every day and chemists are responding to the challenge with innovative techniques and methods.
Developing the best chemistry can be challenging when synthesis equipment limits experimental possibilities. Traditional setups like round bottom flasks, dropping funnels, and ice baths can prevent chemists from accessing the full range of synthetic options and capturing the data they need to make correct development decisions.
A featured white paper discusses a new toolbox specifically designed for chemists that expands experimental options, automates tedious tasks and captures high-quality data at the touch of a button.
Download the white paper to learn how smart synthesis tools combined with lab digitalization capabilities can transform chemical development.
The Limits of Your Lab: Challenges with the Traditional Setup
For most synthesis experiments, chemists and chemical engineers will focus on four specific actions:
- Heating and cooling
- Stirring
- Dosing
- Sampling
The traditional setup needed to conduct these activities largely rely on assemblies of glassware, hot plates, basic cooling devices, stirrers and other peripherals. Conducting experiments using this type of equipment is limited to six key areas.
- Poor usability of manual equipment
The manual procedures needed to conduct experiments across different experimental setups can compromise data quality and lab productivity. - Limited application range
Optimizing chemical reactions can be challenging when chemists are confined to a limited range of experimental conditions; in particular, temperature, dosing and stirring rate, concentration and pressure. - Personal safety challenges
Traditional synthesis setups require scientists to interact closely with toxic and hazardous materials and dangerous solvents and reagents. - Inconsistent data recording and retrieval
The manual lab notebook can result in loss of data or incomplete data recording, and documented data can be difficult to search and retrieve. - Poor parameter control
Manual tools make it very difficult to control parameters within tight tolerances throughout a reaction, limiting the utility of multi-variate parameter analysis, such as Design of Experiments (DoE). - Information gaps
Information gaps over long reactions limit the understanding of reaction mechanism, kinetics and impurity formation.
