High-Throughput Experimentation Laboratory
Welcome to the High-Throughput Experimentation Lab of the Department of Chemistry at UZH
Would you want to rapidly synthesise a broad catalyst library? Would you like to perform a simultaneous multi-parameter reaction optimisation? Or are you interested in acquisition of high-quality experimental data for a machine learning project? Then you have come to the right place, the UZH HTEL.
In late December 2024, the centrepiece of the HTEL, the robotic platform for chemistry workflows was delivered in installed: A SWING XL robotic platform by Chemspeed Technologies!
This sophisticated machine features a variety of tools to accelerate and facilitate chemical research in many different ways. Capabilities involve automated solid and liquid dispensing, parallel reactions under inert atmosphere, photochemical reactions using different wavelengths, reactions using reactive gases under pressure, and parallelised workflows for dilution, filtration, extraction, evaporation. The system is currently still in testing and preparation, so stay tuned!
Moreover, the UZH HTEL also supports workflows in biochemistry, medicinal chemistry, etc. which are incompatible with glovebox conditions. For automated liquid handling, the smaller, easy-to-use Opentrons OT2 has already shown its utility in some pilot projects and now is complemented by an Opentrons Flex, which can handle higher throughputs and more complex workflows by encompassing a 96-channel pipette, on-deck labware transport and active on-deck modules, e.g. for heating or shaking. The Opentrons robots are accompanied by capabilities for SPE, centrifugation, evaporation, incubation and multimode plate reading. All of these are ready for pilot projects as part of our testing phase.
Find out more details on our equipment here.
Do you want to explore new avenues by automated equipment and have ideas that you want to try leveraging the new HTEL infrastructure? Or do you want to run a rapid UHPLC/MS analysis of samples in a 96 or 384-WP? Or are you simply curious about the HTEL project? Don’t hesitate to reach out to us!
Interested in our new minor study programme “Lab Automation and Chemical Data Science”? Find more details here.
For any information on the minor or the UZH HTEL, contact:
Dr. Johannes Schörgenhumer
Senior Scientist - HTE Lab
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Room: Y 38 G 10
Phone: +41 44 63 54694
E-mail: Johannes Schörgenhumer