ElectroChemputer Brings Programmable Electrochemistry to the Chemputer Platform
A new paper from the Cronin Group, published in Chem, introduces the ElectroChemputer: a programmable, modular platform that extends the Chemputer’s χDL-based digital chemistry framework to encompass automated electrochemical synthesis. By integrating a potentiostat, programmable power supply, and polarity controller into the Chemputer backbone, the system enables fully autonomous execution of diverse electrosynthetic workflows, from nucleophilic substitutions and oxidative couplings to electrodepositions and water splitting, all encoded as machine-readable χDL steps.
A key advance is the coupling of real-time stopped-flow NMR spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry directly into the automated workflow. The team also introduced a novel application of the Jaccard similarity index for automated endpoint detection, identifying reaction completion without prior knowledge of diagnostic spectral features. Across 170 hours of operation, the platform accumulated over 1,500 unit operations and acquired more than 600 cyclic voltammograms, demonstrating its robustness across diverse reaction classes, electrode materials, and configurations.
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