The development of automated synthesis apparatus - Past, present and future

Organic synthetic chemistry utilises scientific technology from various fields but compared to the great advances seen in the automation of analytical instruments over the last 20 years, the synthesis of organic compounds has been relatively slow to move from a largely manual process. Automation of synthesis is not only important for increasing efficiency, precision and safety but also decreasing labor and exploring new synthetic methodologies. In this review of automated synthesis apparatus we broadly divide them into two categories;those using robotic transfer of a reagent, reactant, product or vessel, and others that only use flow-lines for transfers between fixed reactors. These categories are then sub-divided into systems and workstations according to the extent of the operations and functions. We highlight some of the representative past and present automated synthesis apparatus and look at what the future may hold in the way of miniaturized and high-throughput automated synthesis.