Color-encoding and in-situ interrogation of matrix-coupled chemical compounds

1. A method of identifying a compound of interest in a library of compounds, each of said compounds being bound to a solid support and being produced by a unique reaction series composed of N reaction steps, wherein N is 1, and wherein each compound is produced from components which are independently the same or different, the method comprising:

(a) dividing a population of solid support into M batches, wherein M is an integer greater than 1;

(b) reacting each of the M batches of solid support with a component, so that the component forms a bond with the solid support;

(c) adding to one or more batches, prior to (b), concurrently with (b), or subsequently to (b), one or more tag(s), each tag able to be attached to the solid support and able to be identified by optical interrogation, wherein said one or more tag(s) constitutes a code, which code is uniquely associated with a compound and a corresponding reaction sequence and is determined by optical interrogation;

(d) recombining all of said M batches after (b) and (c);

(e) repeating (a) to (d) for N−1 times to produce a library of compounds;

(f) performing an assay capable of indicating that any compound in the library has a property of interest; and

(g) decoding the code composed of one or more tag(s) to identify the compound associated with the code, wherein the decoding step is carried out without isolating the solid support comprising the compound having the property of interest from the other solid supports and without detaching any of the tag(s) from the solid support comprising the compound having the property of interest and wherein said decoding step comprises in-situ optical interrogation of the tag(s).

2. A method of identifying a compound having a selected property of interest in a library of compounds, each of said compounds being bound to its respective solid support, and being produced by a unique reaction series composed of N reaction steps, wherein each compound is prepared from a component, and N is an integer from at least 1 to about 100, which comprises:

a) dividing a population of solid supports having at least one OH functional group at the surface of said solid support, into M batches, wherein M is an integer from at least 2 to about 25;

b) coupling the M batches of solid support in a set of at least one reaction respectively with M different components so as to form a bond with the solid support via said first functional group, said components being independently optionally protected;

c) adding to each batch, optionally prior to coupling step b), concurrently therewith, or subsequently to step b), from 0.001 to 0.1 molar equivalent of a spectrally distinguishable fluorophore tag associated uniquely with each component, said tag being identified by its characteristic excitation wavelength(s), emission wavelength(s), excited state lifetime and emission intensity, said tag being activated so as to be capable of forming either a direct bond to the surface of the solid support, optionally via a second functional group which is optionally protected and may be the same as or different from the first functional group bonded to the component, or an indirect bond via a C 1 -C 9 linear or branched alkyl linker moiety which is optionally interrupted by at least one oxygen or nitrogen atom or a carbonyl, (C═O)NH or NH(C═O) moiety, wherein when said second functional group is protected, said functional group is deprotected prior to forming said direct or indirect bond, said linker being bonded to the second functional group at the surface of the solid support;

d) optionally recombining all M batches, said recombining step optionally being subsequent to step e);

e) performing an assay capable of indicating that any compound in the library either while bound to or cleaved from its solid support has the property of interest;

f) collecting spectral fluorescence data for each respective solid support so as to determine respective relative abundances of the fluorophore tags bound thereto;

g) analyzing the collected spectral fluorescence data by comparing the respective relative abundances of the fluorophore tags determined in step f) so as to determine the unique reaction series for the compound, thereby identifying the compound having the property of interest.

3. A method of identifying a compound of interest in a library of compounds, each of said compounds being bound to its respective solid support and produced by a unique reaction series composed of N reaction steps, wherein N is an integer from at least 1 to about 100, and wherein each compound is produced from components which are independently the same or different, said method comprising:

(a) dividing a population of solid supports having at least one OH functional group at the surface of said solid support, into M batches, wherein M is an integer from at least 2 to about 25;

(b) reacting each of the M batches of solid support with a component, so that the component forms a bond with the solid support via the functional group, the component being independently protected or unprotected;

(c) adding to each batch, prior to coupling step b), concurrently therewith, or subsequently to step b), from 0.001 to 0.1 molar equivalent of a spectrally distinguishable fluorophore tag uniquely associated with each component and capable of forming a bond to the solid support or to the component, wherein said fluorophore tag represents a bit of binary code and comprises zero, one, or more than one fluorescent dye(s), said dye(s) being spectrally distinguishable by excitation wavelength, emission wavelength, excited-state lifetime or emission intensity;

(d) recombining all of said M batches after the coupling and the tagging step;

(e) repeating steps (a) to (d) for N−1 times, or repeating steps (a) to (d) for N−2 times followed by repeating steps (a) to (c) once, to produce a library of compounds;

(f) performing an assay capable of indicating that any compound in the library has a property of interest; and

(g) identifying the compound having the property of interest by optically interrogating the fluorophore tag(s) bound to the solid support on which the compound having the property of interest was produced, said optical interrogation being carried out without isolating the solid support of interest from other solid supports.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said tag is a fluorescent tag, and wherein said fluorescent tag being spectrally distinguishable by excitation wavelength, emission wavelength, excited-state lifetime, or emission intensity.