Applications of combinatorial chemistry to industrial catalysis

Combinatorial chemistry is a new tool for carrying out R&D in a time and cost saving manner. The technology combines the relatively new technologies of automation and robotics, computer design and control, and sensitive, high-speed analytical methods to carry out discovery of new materials at a rapid pace. Instead of the traditional one experiment at a time approach, dozens or even thousands of experiments can be carried out concurrently or in parallel. The methodology has been utilized successfully in the pharmaceutical industry beginning about ten years ago. Recently, the techniques have proven successful for rapid discovery of new inorganic materials such as phosphors, luminescent materials, dielectrics, and other electronic materials. The application of these powerful techniques for catalyst discovery is only just beginning. This review gives a basic introduction to the concepts of combinatorial chemistry, the current state of its application to catalysis, and a description of the challenges and opportunities in attempting to duplicate the success in the life sciences.