Flow and microreactor technology in medicinal chemistry

The ultimate dream for medicinal chemists is the ability to synthesize new drug-like compounds with the push of a button. The key to synthesizing chemical compounds more quickly and accurately lies in computer-controlled technologies that can be optimized by machine learning. Recent developments in computer-controlled automated syntheses that rely on miniature flow reactors—with integrated analysis of the resulting products—provide a workable technology for synthesizing new chemical substances very quickly and with minimal effort.