Convergent automated parallel synthesis

As combinatorial chemistry approaches its second decade of widespread use, the developmental pathways that could shape its future are becoming increasingly apparent. Progress down one of these pathways is driven by the desire to make and test more complex molecules containing intricate ring systems, stereochemical features and elaborate presentations of functional groups - molecules that resemble real drugs and natural products. The realization of this desire requires the recruitment of more of the methods and principles of complex molecule synthesis into combinatorial chemistry, thereby creating hybrid operating systems such as 'convergent automated parallel synthesis'.