Plan and execute a configured synthesis
Prepared equipment, available reagents and constrained experiments do not establish general laboratory autonomy.
SCIENCE UNDER AUTOMATION
AI in Synthetic chemistry: capabilities and evidence
Six demonstrated task types, including synthesis planning and experimental optimization
What has AI demonstrated?
Six demonstrated task types, including synthesis planning and experimental optimization
- Test
- Tool-assisted GPT-4 with documentation search, code and configured laboratory automation.
- Comparison
- Demonstration tasks; no representative whole-field autonomy denominator.
- System and version
- Coscientist · 2023
- Evidence checked
- 2026-10-21
Prepared equipment, available reagents and constrained experiments do not establish general laboratory autonomy.
What does the field require?
Plan and execute a configured synthesis
- Choose a route from available chemistry
Provisional autonomy mapping for this requirement. Prepared equipment, available reagents and constrained experiments do not establish general laboratory autonomy.
Coscientist - Control prepared laboratory equipment
Provisional autonomy mapping for this requirement. Prepared equipment, available reagents and constrained experiments do not establish general laboratory autonomy.
Coscientist - Use measured feedback to optimize
Provisional autonomy mapping for this requirement. Prepared equipment, available reagents and constrained experiments do not establish general laboratory autonomy.
Coscientist
Invent and validate a new reaction
- Choose a useful reaction concept
Not tested by this source; capability remains unassessed.
Coscientist - Handle new substrates and experimental failures
Not tested by this source; capability remains unassessed.
Coscientist - Establish mechanism and reproducibility
Not tested by this source; capability remains unassessed.
Coscientist
Research tasks
Invent and validate a new reaction
This broader workflow has not been evaluated by the cited demonstration.
Can AI replace the whole workflow?
The results above measure specific tasks. The field assessment also requires completion of the connected workflow, including the requirements listed here. A field-wide replacement percentage has not been established.
Read the assessment method