Universal chemistry software can turn words into chemicals

A robotic system that can read the chemical literature, turn it into working reaction pathways and use them to automatically create specific chemicals has been developed at the University of Glasgow.

The researchers say the system is the first ‘universal’ architecture for automated chemical synthesis, and can be implemented on any capable robot to turn methods in a book or journal into the desired product. It’s already been tested on common synthesis methods, and the automated manufacture of several test compounds, including the analgesic lidocaine, the Dess–Martin oxidation reagent periodinane, and the fluorinating agent AlkylFluor.¹