Automated Chemical Synthesis Controlled by Computer Generated Programs-Polypeptides

Abstract

Instrumentation for the automated chemical synthesis of polypeptides controlled by computer generated paper tape programs is described. The automatic chemical reaction system (ACRS) translated binary coded commands from the paper tape into physical operations resulting in the synthesis of a model polypeptide. The commands for the entire synthesis were generated by computers. Using our computer programs for the synthesis of polypeptides, it is necessary only to specify the amino acid sequence and the computer will set up the appropriate sequence of physical operations (wash cycles, stirring, filtration steps, amino acid additions, etc.) to carry out the synthesis of the desired amino acid sequence. The computer could also automatically make adjustments in the synthetic approach to accommodate the unique problems involved in coupling different amino acids.