MCR X. Important Aspects for Automating Preparative Chemistry

Usually, classical syntheses from n starting materials require sequences of at least n−1 preparation steps including separation and purification of the intermediates. A perfect alternative for the rapid synthesis of a large variety of chemical products are one-pot syntheses by multicomponent reactions (MCR)[1][2] based on the isocyanides. Between four and seven different types of reactants (educts) are mixed in a reaction vessel to form a product that contains at least one part of each educt. The educts and intermediates equilibrate and a stable product results, often with quantitative yields, in the final practically irreversible step involving the isocyanide. Reactions of this type are widely used for combinatorial chemistry. The minimisation of such syntheses and the computer-assisted handling of the results offer the chance of automating preparative chemistry.