Together with BASF SE, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is building one of the most modern infrastructures for automated process control in chemistry: The plant will initially produce new substances in parallel for applications in areas ranging from biology to materials science. In the long term, the plant will also enable a high-throughput process for chemical reactions. KIT is investing around four million euros in this project. The facility is located in the Karlsruhe Nano Micro Facility (KNMFi) and will be open to internal and external researchers.
The development of automated systems for chemical reactions to produce new materials for various applications in biomedicine, pharmacy, electronics and many other fields is the goal of scientists worldwide. "Thanks to automated processes, such synthesis plants make it possible to carry out chemical reactions in a reproducible and standardized manner without exposing people to chemicals," explains Professor Stefan Bräse, Director at the Institute of Biological and Chemical Systems (IBCS) at KIT. "In addition, automated processes increase the throughput of reactions and thus the efficiency of research projects. This leads to new findings more quickly."
Over the next two years, KIT will invest around four million euros in the development of a system for the automated synthesis of new chemical substances. The facility will be located in the KNMFi to give interested internal and external researchers permanent access to one of the most modern infrastructures for automated process control in chemistry. As a strategic partner, BASF will carry out projects in the facility, for example to identify new active ingredients for agriculture.
Modular design facilitates future expansions
This project brings together several projects prepared by researchers in Stefan Bräse's working group and other KIT scientists. Wherever possible, the system will integrate components of free hardware and software to enable transparent development and later use by other researchers. In addition, the individual components of the system will be assembled in a modular fashion so that future expansions can be easily realized. KIT is involved in various consortia of the National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI), in particular in NFDI4Chem, which specializes in chemistry. Close coordination with the consortia and the implementation of the software and standards developed in NFDI4Chem within the facility will ensure long-term sustainable research and promote the provision of research data according to current best practice models.
Process control, robotics, software development and design work together
Initially, the synthesis plant will be geared towards projects in organic-synthetic chemistry: It is intended to produce small organic molecules of around ten milligrams to several hundred milligrams, for example for chemical intermediates or active pharmaceutical ingredients. In the future, however, the plant will also be able to be used flexibly and carry out reactions on a small scale so that researchers can investigate many reactions simultaneously in a parallelized process. BASF brings extensive expertise to the project for both applications, as the company already operates an automated high-throughput platform at its main site in Ludwigshafen. "We are very much looking forward to working with the KIT groups involved," says Andy Wieja, Team Leader Combinatorics & Thermal Characterization at BASF. "The development of new technologies at KIT will provide new impetus for synthesis projects and process automation at BASF and thus accelerate research and development for future innovations."
The project brings together experts in process control, robotics, software development and design to combine state-of-the-art technologies and established processes. Further partners from research and industry are welcome.
