Home > Terms > English, UK (UE) > Combinatorial chemistry

A method in which very large numbers of chemical entities are synthesised by condensing a small number of reagents togther in all combinations defined by a small set of reactions. The main objective of combinatorial chemistry is synthesis of arrays of chemical or biological compounds called libraries. These libraries are screened to identify useful components, such as drug candidates. Synthesis and screening are often treated as separate tasks because they require different conditions, instrumentation, and scientific expertise. Synthesis involves the development of new chemical reactions to produce the compounds, while screening aims to identify the biological effect of these compounds, such as strong binding to proteins and other biomolecular targets.