Apparatus for the automation of chemical reaction kinetics studies

An automated apparatus for performing reaction kinetics studies, the apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of reaction blocks including at least one hot reaction block for heating one or more reaction vessels and at least one cold reaction block for cooling the one or more reaction vessels after heating thereof;
• a robotic device for transferring one reaction vessel from one hot reaction block to one cold reaction block;
• a controller having a user interface for inputting at least (1) a number of reaction vessels for the study, (2) a first predetermined temperature profile and (3) a predetermined study time period beginning with a start time and ending with a stop time, wherein the controller is in communication with the hot and cold reaction blocks and the robotic device, the controller including an operating system which instructs the robotic device to transfer the plurality of reaction vessels from one hot reaction block to one cold reaction block at predefined transfer times and wherein at least one of the hot reaction blocks is heated according to the first predetermined temperature profile over the study time period, the controller collecting and storing kinetics data for each reaction vessel transfer, the kinetics data at least including a temperature of the hot reaction block at each transfer time and a sampling time when each reaction vessel transfer from the hot reaction block to the cold reaction block occurred.

A method of performing reaction kinetics studies and collecting data using an automated apparatus, the method comprising:

• providing the automated apparatus, the apparatus including:
• a plurality of reaction blocks including at least one hot reaction block for heating one or more reaction vessels and at least one cold reaction block for cooling the one or more reaction vessels after heating thereof;
• a robotic device for transferring one reaction vessel from one hot reaction block to one cold reaction block;
• a controller having a user interface and being in communication with the robotic device;
• entering a first input using the user interface, the first input corresponding to a number of reaction vessels used in the study;
• entering a second input using the user interface, the second input corresponding to a predetermined temperature profile which represents the temperature of at least one of the hot reaction blocks over a time period of the study;
• entering a third input using the user interface, the third input corresponding to the time period of the study beginning with a start time and ending with a stop time;
• transferring the reaction vessels at predefined transfer times, the predefined transfer times being calculated using the first and third inputs, each reaction vessel being transferred from one hot reaction block to one cold reaction block by the robotic device which receives command signals from the controller;
• and
• collecting kinetics data including at least a temperature of the hot reaction block at each transfer time and a sampling time indicating when each reaction vessel transfer occurred.