Solid-phase combinatorial synthesis using MicroKan reactors, Rf tagging, and directed sorting.

A modular system for high-output solid-phase combinatorial synthesis has been designed and developed. The system employs three technological innovations to achieve its high efficiency and reliability: (1) application of microreactors as the reaction units in solid-phase synthesis; (2) use of radiofrequency tagging as the non-chemical tracking method; and (3) development of the directed sorting technology for split & pool synthesis. The system has been successfully applied in the synthesis of compound libraries of several hundred to several thousand compounds in multi-milligrams per compound quantity by many organizations. Copyright 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.