News Picture Generic

Data-Led Suzuki-Miyaura Reaction Optimization: Development of a Short Course for Postgraduate Synthetic Chemists

July 15, 2025

ACS Publications

A two-day workshop activity is described in which postgraduate students are introduced to (i) the theory and application of Design-of-Experiments (DOE) approaches and (ii) the implementation of affordable automation technologies and related data analysis of a system of catalytic interest. This work involved the design and delivery of a short lecture to introduce the theory of DOE followed by practical demonstrations of the application of automation technologies. Specifically, a fractional factorial design was used to interrogate the input space─base, solvent, temperature, time─of the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling (SMCC) of para-bromoanisole and para-fluorophenylboronic acid using automated solid and liquid handling robots and online HPLC analysis. This was supplemented by a second lecture following data acquisition in which the collected HPLC data was analyzed. The workshop was delivered to a cohort of 15 students at the postgraduate level. Pleasingly, students demonstrated a high degree of engagement with this course structure and reported an increased theoretical understanding of DOE approaches to reaction optimization.

For details: 

Data-Led Suzuki-Miyaura Reaction Optimization: Development of a Short Course for Postgraduate Synthetic Chemists

Stuart C. Smith, Barnabas A. Franklin, Christopher S. Horbaczewskyj, James D. D’Souza Metcalf, Jacob J. Walder, Peter O’Brien, Ian J. S. Fairlamb

Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK

DOI: https://doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.4c01194.

Contact us to learn more about this exciting publication:

https://www.chemspeed.com/contact-us/

Other Recent News

Discover more news articles you might be interested in

Read more about Influence of the CeO₂ Morphology and Initial Pd–Pt Interaction Degree on Catalyst Activity and Stability
News Picture 1 1 V2
Oct
7

Influence of the CeO₂ Morphology and Initial Pd–Pt Interaction Degree on Catalyst Activity and Stability

Due to its peculiar properties and strong interaction with noble metals, ceria is widely used as a catalyst support for numerous applications. In this work, morphologically pure and highly crystalline ceria nanocubes and nanorods were prepared to systematically investigate both the impact of the support morphology and Pd–Pt interaction degree on the noble metal-support interplay during CO oxidation.

Read more about High-throughput RAFT Polymerization via Automated Batch, Increment, and Continuous Flow Platforms
News Picture 1 1 V2
Featured
Sep
23

High-throughput RAFT Polymerization via Automated Batch, Increment, and Continuous Flow Platforms

We report an automated strategy to conduct RAFT copolymerizations using a Chemspeed robotic platform capable of executing batch, incremental, and continuous monomer addition workflows under inert conditions. Copolymerizations of oligo(ethylene glycol) acrylate with benzyl acrylate (as a control) and fluorescein o-acrylate were conducted in toluene, THF, and DMF, with reaction progress monitored via ¹H NMR spectroscopy at defined intervals.

Read more about Kinetically guided exploration of photocatalytic reactions by combining automation with in situ measurements
News Picture 1 1 V2
Featured
Sep
9

Kinetically guided exploration of photocatalytic reactions by combining automation with in situ measurements

Photocatalysis enables valuable reactions such as synthetic transformations or energy conversion processes like water splitting. To rationally improve photocatalytic reactions, mechanistic insights are required. These can be obtained with kinetic measurements, which are, however, difficult to obtain for a large enough number of reaction conditions to provide systematic and valuable insights. 

© Chemspeed Technologies 2025