Automated solubility screening platform using computer vision

Summary Solubility screening is an essential, routine process that is often labor intensive. Robotic platforms have been developed to automate some aspects of the manual labor involved. However, many of the existing systems rely on traditional analytic techniques such as high-performance liquid chromatography, which require pre-calibration for each compound and can be resource consuming. In addition, automation is not typically end-to-end, requiring user intervention to move vials, establish analytical methods for each compound and interpret the raw data. We developed a closed-loop, flexible robotic system with integrated solid and liquid dosing capabilities that relies on computer vision and iterative feedback to successfully measure caffeine solubility in multiple solvents. After initial researcher input (
Graphical abstract
Highlights • We demonstrate a modular, closed-loop robotic platform for solubility screening • Automated solvent titration is informed by computer vision and turbidity monitoring • No human intervention or HPLC analysis is required during the experimental loop • Solubility values obtained by the system match those obtained via traditional methods
Organic chemistry; organic synthesis; green chemistry; engineering; automation