Applications of High Throughput Chemistry to Medicinal Chemistry

Autonomous biomimetic solid dispensing using a dual-arm robotic manipulator

“…7,9 In the case of the Chemspeed device, the balance is suspended and moves to the receiving container; by contrast, the Quantos device is static, and the receiving container is delivered to an analytical balance, either by hand, by using an automated carousel, or by using a robotic arm. The Chronect XPR robotic solid dispensing system 10 combines the same dispensing technology as the Quantos system, coupled with a six-axis single robotic arm to manipulate the dispensing head, thus completely automating the solid dispensing process for multiple solids, much as for the Chemspeed GDU-Pfd.…”

“…Fig.1Steps involved in automated solid dispensing using a dual-arm robot; (1) first, the robot opens the balance door; (2) and (3) the robot then manipulates the empty vial and places it on the analytical balance pan, before closing the balance door (not shown); (4) the robot manipulates the sample hopper that contains the material to be dispense, transferring it from a sample storage area (shown on right of image(11)), and placing it next to the balance; (5) the robot uses a small spatula to mix the contents of the hopper, breaking up any agglomerates; (6) the robot scoops solid from the sample hopper using a spatula that is matched in size to the amount to be dispensed;(7) photographs showing the tilting and shaking operations used to dispense the solids into a glass funnel that delivers the material to the sample vial; (8) any excess, undispensed solid is returned to the sample hopper; (9) tilting operation for smallest spatula;(10) here the robot removes the sample vial and returns all material to the sample hopper in the case of over-dispensing beyond a preset threshold (i.e., a 'reset' operation); and(11) photograph showing the overall layout of the workflow. Videos of the solid dispensing process are provided in the Data availability section.…”