Discovering New Chemistry with an Autonomous Robotic Platform Driven by a Reactivity-Seeking Neural Network

We present a robotic chemical discovery system capable of navigating a chemical space based on a learned general association between molecular structures and reactivity, while incorporating a neural network model that can process data from online analytics and assess reactivity without knowing the identity of the reagents. Working in conjunction with this learned knowledge, our robotic platform is able to autonomously explore a large number of potential reactions and assess the reactivity of mixtures, including unknown chemical spaces, regardless of the identity of the starting materials. Through the system, we identified a range of chemical reactions and products, some of which were well-known, some new but predictable from known pathways, and some unpredictable reactions that yielded new molecules. The validation of the system was done within a budget of 15 inputs combined in 1018 reactions, further analysis of which allowed us to discover not only a new photochemical reaction but also a new reactivity mode for a well-known reagent (p-toluenesulfonylmethyl isocyanide, TosMIC). This involved the reaction of 6 equiv of TosMIC in a multistep, single-substrate cascade reaction yielding a trimeric product in high yield (47% unoptimized) with the formation of five new C-C bonds involving sp-sp(2) and sp-sp(3) carbon centers. An analysis reveals that this transformation is intrinsically unpredictable, demonstrating the possibility of a reactivity-first robotic discovery of unknown reaction methodologies without requiring human input.

Automated summary

The robotic chemical discovery system presented in the study is able to autonomously explore a large number of potential reactions and assess the reactivity of mixtures, including well-known, predictable, and unpredictable chemical reactions, without the need for human input. Through the validation of the system, new photochemical reactions and reactivity modes for well-known reagents were discovered, highlighting the possibility of a reactivity-first robotic discovery of unknown reaction methodologies.