Chemputation: bringing chemistry out of the dark ages
A new article in The Conversation by Lee Cronin sets out a compelling case for why chemistry still relies on largely manual, craft-based workflows, and how this is holding back reproducibility and discovery. The piece introduces the concept of “chemputation”, where chemical synthesis is encoded as executable digital instructions for automated systems, allowing reactions to be shared, reproduced, and optimised like software.
The article highlights how programmable chemistry could connect AI-driven design directly to physical synthesis, accelerating exploration of chemical space and enabling fully automated discovery pipelines. This vision closely reflects ongoing work within the Cronin Group to develop universal chemical programming languages and autonomous platforms for molecule making, pointing towards a future where chemistry becomes truly digital.