High‐Throughput Screening of Catalytic H2 Production

Hydrogenases, ferredoxins, and ferredoxin‐NADP⁺ reductases (FNR) are redox proteins that mediate electron metabolism in vivo, and are also potential components for biological H₂ production technologies. A high‐throughput H₂ production assay device (H₂PAD) is presented that enables simultaneous evaluation of 96 individual H₂ production reactions to identify components that improve performance. Using a CCD camera and image analysis software, H₂PAD senses the chemo‐optical response of Pd/WO₃ thin films to the H₂ produced. H₂PAD‐enabled discovery of hydrogenase and FNR mutants that enhance biological H₂ production is reported. From a library of 10 080 randomly mutated Clostridium pasteurianum [FeFe] hydrogenases, we found a mutant with nearly 3‐fold higher H₂ production specific activity. From a library of 400 semi‐randomly mutated Oryza sativa FNR, the top hit enabled a 60 % increase in NADPH‐driven H₂ production rates. H₂PAD can also facilitate elucidation of fundamental biochemical mechanisms within these systems.     

High‐Throughput Screening of Mechanical Properties on Temperature‐Gradient Polyurethaneurea Libraries

Combinatorial libraries of segmented polyurethaneurea with gradients in curing temperature were prepared and characterized using a novel high‐throughput mechanical instrument. Stress/strain profiles were taken at different temperature positions on the libraries, and a structure/property relationship between microstructure and mechanical properties was established by correlating the measured strength and strain at break to high‐throughput AFM and FT‐IR measurements on the same library. These results demonstrate the feasibility of rapid and accurate screening of mechanical properties, and their correlation to structure, by using gradient combinatorial polymer libraries.

Impact energy/thickness and elongation at break versus cure T for a T‐gradient SPUU library.     

Fast Liquid Chromatography for High‐Throughput Screening of Polymers

Liquid chromatography of polymers is traditionally a slow technique with analysis times of typically 30 min per sample. For the application of liquid chromatographic techniques to combinatorial materials research the analysis time per sample must be reduced considerably. Analysis time in SEC can be reduced to about 2 min per sample when high‐throughput columns are used. For HPLC small columns with improved separation efficiencies can be used. As compared to conventional technology, time savings of more than 80% are achieved.

Chromatogram from conventional SEC column compared to high‐speed SEC column tested on an identical instrument with polystyrene standards in THF.     

High‐Throughput Synthesis and Screening of Combinatorial Heterogeneous Catalyst Libraries

In less than one minute the catalytic activity and selectivity of a single catalyst was measured in combinatorial libraries of ternary Rh‐Pd‐Pt‐Cu alloys. Only slightly more than two hours were needed to complete a library with 136 elements. The elements of the libraries (ca. 2–4 μg of material) are contained in a two‐dimensional array synthesized by a thin‐film technique. The analysis was performed by a scanning mass spectrometer (see picture).     

Chemical Kinetic Strategies for High‐Throughput Screening of Protein Aggregation Modulators

Insoluble aggregates staining positive to amyloid dyes are known histological hallmarks of different neurodegenerative disorders and of type II diabetes. Soluble oligomers are smaller assemblies whose formation prior to or concomitant with amyloid deposition has been associated to the processes of disease propagation and cell death. While the pathogenic mechanisms are complex and differ from disease to disease, both types of aggregates are important biological targets subject to intense investigation in academia and industry. Here we review recent advances in the fundamental understanding of protein aggregation that can be used on the development of anti‐amyloid and anti‐oligomerization drugs. Specifically, we pinpoint the chemical kinetic aspects that should be attended during the development of high‐throughput screening assays and in the hit validation phase. The strategies here devised are expected to establish a connection between basic research and pharmaceutical innovation.     

High‐Throughput Reaction Optimisation and Activity Screening of Ferrocene‐Based Lewis Acid–Catalyst Complexes by Using Continuous‐Flow Reaction Detection Mass Spectrometry

Optimising synthetic conversions and assessing catalyst performance is a tedious and laborious endeavour. Herein, we present an automated alternative to the commonly applied sequential approaches that are used to increase catalyst discovery process efficiencies by increasing the number of entities that can be tested. This new approach combines conversion of the reactants and determination of product formation into a single comprehensive reaction detection system that can be operated with minimal catalyst and reactant consumption. With this approach, rudimentary reaction conditions can be quickly optimised and the same system can then be used to screen for the optimal homogenous catalyst in a selected solution‐phase synthetic conversion. The system, which is composed of standard HPLC components, can be used to screen catalyst libraries at a repetition rate of five minutes and can be run unsupervised. The sensitive mass spectrometric detection that is implemented in the reaction detection methodology can be used for the simultaneous monitoring of reactants, catalysts and product ions. In the experiments, the three‐component reaction that gives a substituted 2‐imidazoline was optimised. Afterwards, the same method was used to assess a library of ferrocene‐based Lewis acid catalysts for performance in the aforementioned conversion in six different solvents. We demonstrate the feasibility of using this methodology to directly compare the performance results obtained in different solvents by calibrating the solvent‐specific MS responses.     

Mesenchymal‐Mode Migration Assay and Antimetastatic Drug Screening with High‐Throughput Microfluidic Channel Networks

Increasing evidence shows that activated mesenchymal migration is a key process of the metastatic cascade. Cancer cells usually gain such migratory capability through an epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition. Herein we present a high‐throughput microfluidic device with 3120 microchambers to specifically monitor mesenchymal migration. Through imaging of the whole chip and statistical analysis, we can evaluate the two key factors of velocity and percentage related to cell migratory capacity at different cell densities in culture. We also used the device to screen antimetastatic drugs for their inhibition of mesenchymal migration and prevention of metastatic malignancy. This device will provide an excellent platform for biologists to gain a better understanding of cancer metastasis.     

Photothermal Detection of Individual Gold Nanoparticles: Perspectives for High‐Throughput Screening

We use photothermal microscopy to detect and image individual gold nanoparticles that are either embedded in a polymer film or immobilized in an aqueous environment. Reducing the numerical aperture of the detection optics allows us to achieve a 200‐fold‐enlarged detection volume while still retaining sufficient detectivity. We characterize the capabilities of this approach for the detection of gold colloids with a diameter of 20 nm, with emphasis on practical aspects that are important for high‐throughput‐screening applications. The extended detection volume in combination with the stability of the photothermal signal are major advantages compared to fluorescence‐based approaches, which are limited by photoblinking and photobleaching. Careful consideration is given to the trade‐off between the maximum increase in local temperature that can be tolerated by a biological specimen and the minimum integration time needed to reliably determine whether a given volume contains a target species. We find that our approach has the potential to increase the detection‐limited flow rate (i.e. the limit given by the detection volume divided by the minimum detection time) by two to three orders of magnitude.