Apparatus and process for the automated chemical synthesis of compounds

A process for the automated synthesis of chemical compounds, comprising:

• providing an apparatus comprising:
• (a) at least one solvent container for storing solvent system(s) used for at least one compartment of at least one cartridge, the at least one solvent container comprising at least one solvent reservoir, the at least one solvent reservoir having an inlet and an outlet,
• (b) at least one reaction container for providing compound(s) to be fed into at least one of the compartments of the at least one cartridge and/or collecting reaction product(s) from at least one of the compartments of the at least one cartridge, the at least one reaction container having an inlet and an outlet;
• (c) at least one first valve for selecting a liquid source from the at least one solvent reservoir or the at least one reaction container, the at least one first valve having an inlet connected to the outlet of the at least one solvent reservoir and the outlet of the at least one reaction container, and an outlet connected to a pump inlet;
• (d) at least one pump comprising a first pump comprising the pump inlet for receiving liquid from the outlet of the first valve and a pump outlet connected to an inlet of at least one second valve for directing the liquid received from the at least one first valve to the at least one second valve either directly or through optional pump(s) of the at least one pump;
• (e) the at least one second valve for directing the liquid received from the at least one pump to an inlet of at least one compartment of the at least one cartridge or the inlet of the at least one reaction container, the at least one second valve having the inlet for receiving the liquid from the at least one pump, and an outlet connected to the inlet of the at least one compartment of the at least one cartridge and the inlet of the at least one reaction container;
• (f) at least one cartridge comprising:
• (i) at least one first compartment for providing at least one first reagent for the chemical synthesis of the at least one compound, the at least one first compartment having the inlet connected to the outlet of the at least one second valve, and an outlet connected to the at least one reaction container for passing a formed substrate-reagent intermediate product into the at least one reaction container;
• (ii) at least one second compartment for providing at least one second reagent for the chemical synthesis of the at least one compound, the at least one second compartment having an inlet for receiving the substrate-reagent intermediate product from the outlet of the at least one reaction container, and an outlet connected to the inlet of the at least one reaction container for passing a formed reaction product into the at least one reaction container, and
• (iii) at least one third compartment for purifying the at least one synthesized compound, the at least one third compartment having an inlet connected to the outlet of the reaction container for receiving the formed reaction product from the outlet of the first reaction container, and an outlet connected to the inlet of the at least one reaction container for passing the purified product into the at least one reaction container,
• at least one heating unit for heating at least one of the first compartment or the second compartment,
• at least one stirring unit for stirring the at least one reaction container, and
• a controller programmed to operate and control the at least one first valve, the at least one second valve, the pump, the at least one heating unit, and the at least one stirring unit;
• providing at least one substrate in at least one solvent in the at least one reaction container;
• controlling the at least one first valve, the at least one second valve and the pump with the controller to automatically pass the at least one substrate through the at least one first compartment comprising the first reagent as at least one immobilized reagent once or several times, controlling the temperature of the at least one substrate with the controller to form a substrate-reagent intermediate product, and controlling the at least one first valve, the at least one second valve and the pump with the controller to collect the formed substrate-reagent intermediate product prior to passing the substrate-reagent intermediate product into a subsequent compartment;
• controlling the at least one first valve, the at least one second valve and the pump with the controller to automatically pass the substrate-reagent intermediate product through at least one second compartment comprising at least one catalyst as the second reagent once or several times, controlling the temperature of the substrate-reagent intermediate product with the controller to form a reaction product, and controlling the at least one first valve, the at least one second valve and the pump with the controller to collect the formed reaction product prior to passing the reaction product into a subsequent compartment;
• and
• controlling the at least one first valve, the at least one second valve and the pump with the controller to automatically pass the reaction product through at least one third compartment comprising at least one ion exchange support for purifying the reaction product once or several times and collect the purified product.