Elongate solid phase body

An elongate solid phase body for solid phase synthesis, the elongate solid phase body comprising:

• an elongate body portion and enclosures distributed along the length of the elongate body portion, the enclosures being formed of a material comprising a chemically inert mesh;
• and
• within each enclosure, solid phase beads;
• wherein the size of the holes in the mesh and the size distribution of the solid phase beads are selected such that the beads do not pass through the mesh;
• wherein each enclosure contains less than 90% of the maximum amount of the solid phase beads that the enclosure can hold;
• wherein the enclosures contain an amount of solid phase beads selected such that the solid phase beads have room to increase in size during the synthesis and the solid phase beads are free to move within the enclosures during the synthesis;
• wherein the elongate solid phase body comprises two elongate strips of the material connected together so as to form the elongate body portion and the enclosures;
• and
• wherein the two elongate strips are periodically connected continuously across the transverse width of the elongate body portion to form the enclosures.