Cubes and Tubes, Chips and Tips: Combinatorial Organic Synthesis (or, "How I Learned to Relax and Love the Bead")

Anthony Czarnik
Illumina



Eight years ago, high-throughput organic synthesis was virtually unknown- and medicinal chemists liked it that way. Despite the strong thermodynamic driving force for chemists to carry out this valuable activity, overcoming the activation barrier proved difficult. New tools and new rules provided the catalysts necessary that made this state change kinetically accessible.