Automated method for examining catalytic and spectroscopic properties of the components of combinatorial libraries

1. A method comprising:

arranging a capillary supply line and a capillary outlet line into a bundle;

robotically positioning said bundle over individual components of a material library;

conducting reactants through the supply line to the library components to undergo reactions; and

conducting products of the reactions, while the material library is covered by a disk with bores that are open to the ambient environment from the library components through the outlet line to a mass spectrometer for the mass spectrometer to analyze the products.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein, in said robotic positioning step, said library is in a reactor that is open to the environment.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said positioning includes sequentially positioning said bundle over individual components of said material library.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said arranging comprises arranging several bundles, each including a capillary supply line for supplying reactants and a capillary outlet line for transferring reaction products, and said positioning includes robotically positioning said bundles over components of the library.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein said positioning includes positioning said bundles over several individual components of said material library at substantially the same time.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

analyzing progress of a reaction of one of the library components as a function of time by transferring reaction products from the component to the mass spectrometer.

7. An apparatus comprising:

a material library including multiple components;

a plate that covers the library and has bores open to the ambient environment;

a mass spectrometer;

a capillary supply line configured to supply reactants to each component to undergo a reaction;

a capillary outlet line configured to conduct products of the reactions from the library components to the mass spectrometer for analysis by the mass spectrometer; and

a robot operative to position said lines sequentially over said components.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said supply and outlet lines are arranged in a bundle.

9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said library is in a reactor that is open to the environment.

10. A method comprising:

arranging a capillary supply line and a capillary outlet line into a bundle; and

robotically positioning the bundle over individual components of a material library;

conducting reactants through the supply line to the library components to undergo reactions; and

conducting products of the reactions, while the material library is covered by a disk with bores that are open to the ambient environment, from the library components through the outlet line to a chromatograph for the chromatograph to analyze the products.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein, in the robotically positioning step, the library is in a reactor that is open to the environment.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the conducting products step includes conducting the products to an analytical device that is a combination of the chromatograph and a mass spectrometer.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein, during the conducting products step, the library is in a reactor that is open to the environment.

14. An apparatus comprising:

a material library including multiple components;

a disk with bores that are open to the ambient environment;

a chromatograph;

a capillary supply line configured to supply reactants to each component to undergo a reaction;

a capillary outlet line configured to conduct products of the reactions from the library components to the chromatograph for analysis by the chromatograph; and

a robot operative to position the lines sequentially over the components.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the supply and outlet lines are arranged in a bundle.