Novalyst, a company having in-depth expertise in organic synthesis and chemistry research out-sourcing is based in France. One of its main projects, Mercator Cartography System® (MCS) begun in 2003, aims to optimize chemical reactions by systematically collecting experimental data in order to provide a better understanding of reactivity and selectivity criteria in organic chemistry. Discover how QUANTOS helps to drastically improve the weighing of catalysts, one of the key steps in the MCS project.
MCS: Optimizing the Chemical Reactions
With fifty to sixty percent of the reactions in the laboratory such as oxidation, hydrogenation, reduction, run repetitively, one of Novalyst’s many goals is to produce molecules of interest better and faster through its Mercator Cartography System® project (MCS). The initial project, based on hydrogenation, aims to collect existing data on this subject and to prove new data by systematically testing key molecules. Data is collected during eight generic reaction conditions, and in the presence of eighteen main catalysts used in the laboratory. Ultimately, each molecule is then tested in 144 different conditions. Nicolas Bensel, head of the MCS operation at Novalyst, explains that “The goal is to create an unprecedented database for the chemist, and to provide him or her with the reaction conditions that will help obtain the best possible performance for this particular chemical transformation.“
Long Weighing Times and Poor Reliability
The weighing step, which takes place within the processing work-flow before analyzing the reaction, proves to be the most critical one. Out of the eighteen catalysts, seventeen are powders. Powdered catalysts were weighed manually using a traditional weighing spatula. The long, repetitive process had significant drawbacks. Nicolas Bensel also comments, “Manual weighing meant a long process, with physical stress for the chemist. More importantly, it also meant weighing errors of up to 10%, and increased safety risks attributed to the toxic nature of some of the catalysts we handle.“
QUANTOS Offers the Perfect Solution
Thanks to the QUANTOS Automated Powder Dosing System from METTLER TOLEDO, Novalyst can now place all its focus and effort on the analytical aspects of MCS. The new QUANTOS system has solved all the catalyst weighing challenges. QUANTOS features a high-precision weighing instrument coupled with innovative dosing heads, each equipped with its own RFID chip. With just one click, the self-contained dosing head with powder storage vessel is attached to the instrument and is ready for perfect automatic dosing of one or more samples at the operator’s direction. Nicolas Bensel confirms that, “QUANTOS has not only set us free from the stress and ergonomic constraints, but has also helped us to achieve remarkable reproducibility in dosing substances with an error rate under 5%.“ He concludes, “Prior to QUANTOS, we processed two reactors of 24 wells per day. At present, we can easily manage three per day. Thanks to QUANTOS we have reduced the dosing time by factor of three and, in terms of productivity, we have gained 2.5 days of work per week!”
| Request more Information |
