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Preface The importance o f combinatorial approaches to the development o f pharmaceuticals is well recognized and can be evidenced by the fact that these methods have been embraced by every major pharmaceutical company. The combinatorial approach allows simultaneous synthesis o f libraries containing thousands o f compounds, a task that is unfeasible when using traditional approaches without an inordinate expenditure o f resources and time. These compounds must then be screened for the desired properties. In the case o f pharmaceuticals, the desired property is often the ability o f the drug to bind to a receptor. Application o f the combinatorial approach to materials development is in the emerging state. Here, the properties for which the material needs to be screened are much more varied and new strategies for highthroughput screening are being developed. Nevertheless, the success o f this approach for developing new optical and magnetic materials has demonstrated its viability and spawned its application to other areas such as polymers and catalysts. A combinatorial approach provides an efficient means o f screening large numbers o f compounds, formulations, or even process conditions that would have been impractical by the traditional approach that uses one variable at a time. The list o f target materials is large; it encompasses small organic molecules, polymer and polymer blends, ceramics, glasses, and metal alloys. The field o f use is equally diverse. Examples include structural materials, magnetic, optical and photorefractive materials, catalysts, coatings, semiconductors and superconductors, adhesives, and sensors. Combinatorial methods thus offer the possibility o f shortening the time to discovery o f new materials. Thus a clear potential exists for speeding up the innovative cycle-from discovery, through development, to bringing the product to market-and that is the promise o f this approach. The reduced time for innovation translates into greater returns on R&D investments, and therein lies a major force driving chemical companies into adopting combinatorial approaches for their businesses,
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Malhotra; Combinatorial Materials Development ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2002.
either by forming alliances with companies that are developing com binatorial tools or by acquiring the capability in-house. A s part o f the Celebration o f Chemistry in the 21 Century during the 219 National Meeting o f the American Chemical Society ( A C S ) in M a r c h 2000 in San Francisco, California, the Materials C h e m istry Secretariat organized a symposium on combinatorial approaches to materials development. The symposium featured presentations on four themes that are crucial to the combinatorial approach: (1) parallel synthesis, (2) rapid throughput screening, (3) robotics, and (4) infor matics. The organizers o f this symposium felt that the symposium should not only feature frontier research, but also should serve as a tutorial for a wider audience. Accordingly, the speakers were encouraged to provide sufficient background in these themes before discussing them. The idea for publishing this book was born during those discussions. It was felt that this collection o f papers provides an overview o f the field and discusses important advances that are enabling the development o f new materials by combinatorial methods. This volume should provide a use ful introduction to combinatorial methods for graduate students and pro fessionals o f materials science. It should be o f interest to scientists actively engaged in materials research and to those considering applying this new method o f materials development. st
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Acknowledgment The symposium was organized under the aegis o f the Material Chemistry Secretariat o f the A C S , and was cosponsored by the ACS Divisions o f Fuel Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, and Polymer C h e m istry Inc. I am grateful for their encouragement and support in organizing the symposium. Financial support was provided by the Petroleum Re search Fund o f the A C S , as well as several private companies who are interested in combinatorial development o f materials. In alphabetic order, they are: Agilent Technologies, Argonaut Technologies, Bohdman A u t o mation, Genevac Technologies, S y m y x Technologies, Tripos Inc., and V W R Scientific. I am most grateful to Chery Lund, the coorganizer o f the symposium, for her tireless efforts in putting together a stellar line o f speakers. The authors and reviewers o f the chapters deserve special thanks for their commitment to this project. I am grateful to Robert Haushalter, who was most generous with his time and helped me vet
χ Malhotra; Combinatorial Materials Development ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2002.
some o f the papers. I am also grateful to K e l l y Dennis and Stacy V a n derwall in acquisitions and Margaret B r o w n in production o f the ACS Books Department.
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Ripudaman Malhotra SRI International 333 Ravenswood Avenue M e n l o Park, CA 94025 Phone: (650) 859-2805 Fax: (650) 859-6196 E m a i l :
[email protected] xi Malhotra; Combinatorial Materials Development ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2002.
