title: Automated modular preparative HPLC-MS purification laboratory with enhanced efficiency.
abstract: Automated parallel synthesis as tool to increase productivity in chemical synthesis is well-established. However, even more time-consuming than the synthesis process is the following purification of the resulting crude products. To enhance efficiency of the lead optimization process at Bayer CropScience, a high-throughput HPLC/MS-laboratory for the purification of up to 48 crude products per day in the range of 200-400 mg each in one injection per sample has been set up. The use of Covaris technology for HPLC sample preparation, automated aliquotation during fractionation, and a novel evaporation process by combination with freeze-drying are new key technologies applied successfully for the first time in this purification unit facilitating to achieve the targeted efficiency. The whole process is supported by a specially designed IT-landscape covering each step of the workflow. Both the technical instruments used within the laboratory and the workflow and IT platform are described in this article.
authors.affiliation: Bayer CropScience AG, D-40789 Monheim, Germany.
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Guth
authors.forename: Dietmar
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Krewer
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Freudenberg
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Paulitz
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hauser
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ilg
mesh_terms: D001331:Automation; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D020650:Combinatorial Chemistry Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D007753:Laboratories; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry; D013678:Technology, Pharmaceutical / Q000295:instrumentation