Jason Hein of Telescope Innovations provides an overview of the DirectInject-LC™ system, its setup, and various applications, including tips and tricks for optimizing its use. DirectInject-LC is a hardware and software ecosystem that enables real-time, automated sampling and analysis of chemical reactions and crystallizations using liquid chromatography (HPLC). It transforms conventional offline HPLC analysis into a powerful online tool by automating sample extraction, quenching, and dilution, and then directly transferring samples to the HPLC for immediate analysis. This eliminates time-lapse issues and provides a comprehensive view of reaction progress, enabling improved understanding of kinetics and mechanisms.
Jason Hein
CEO/Director, Telescope Innovations
Jason Hein is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University of British Columbia, an Adjunct Professor at the University of Bergen, Norway. Prof. Hein was the co-lead of Project ADA; the world's first autonomous discovery platform for thin film materials, supported by Natural Resources Canada, co-PI of the MADNESS team supported by the DARPA Accelerated Molecular Discovery Program and the UBC lead for the Acceleration Consortium CFREF spearheaded by the University of Toronto. Jason has also translated his passion for developing enabling technology by becoming the CEO and founder of Telescope Innovations; a chemical technology start-up creating AI-enabled automation solutions for process chemical development. He received his B.Sc. in Biochemistry in 2000 and Ph.D. in asymmetric reaction methodology in 2005 from the University of Manitoba (NSERC PGS-A/B, Prof. Philip G. Hultin). In 2006, he became an NSERC postdoctoral research fellow with Prof. K. Barry Sharpless and Prof. Valery V. Fokin at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA. In 2010, he became a senior research associate with Prof. Donna G. Blackmond at the Scripps Research Institute. He began his independent career at the University of California, Merced in 2011, employing in-situ kinetic reaction analysis to rapidly profile and study complex networks of reactions. In 2015, he moved to the University of British Columbia and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2019. His research has resulted in a collection of prototype modular robotic tools and integrated analytical hardware which create the first broadly applicable automated reaction profiling toolkit geared toward enabling autonomous research and discovery.