Lessons from flow chemistry
The slow acceptance of flow chemistry is a prime example of chemists’ innate resistance to change
Chemists are conservative – it’s part of our nature. Our subject teaches us to be this way because it has a history of being difficult: there are so many ways that chemistry can go wrong, and so very few ways to make it work that it pays to stick with what you know.
This conservatism extends to the equipment we use. The only thing that’s been proven to be generally useful for generations of chemists is a round-bottomed flask. Chemists are used to creating their own apparatus from a basic glassware kit, and to doing different things with it every day. Indeed, we take pride in overcoming the impossibilities of chemistry using such minimal equipment, and it forms a large part of our training.
But as chemistry struggles with problems of reproducibility, it’s time to rely on more complex technology.