Developments in solution-phase combinatorial chemistry.

The use of solution-phase parallel synthesis as a means of producing libraries of compounds for lead discovery and optimization has increased steadily. More emphasis has been placed on the development of techniques that are applicable across a range of structures and chemistries. In addition, the techniques have been developed with a medicinal chemistry focus and therefore, can be used by a wide range of chemists in standard laboratory settings. This review highlights some of the developments over the last 12 to 18 months, including the use of multi-component reactions and high-throughput purification. New chemistry that may be applicable to parallel synthesis, useful scavenging techniques, and the combination of several polymer-bound reagents or applications.