A Novel Storage and Retrieval Concept for Compound Collections on Dry Film

Abstract

Multiparallel and combinatorial syntheses have enabled chemists to produce a vast number of chemical compounds for hit- and lead-finding campaigns. For high-throughput screening (HTS), these compound collections are typically dissolved in dimethylsulfoxid (DMSO) and stored at temperatures ranging from —80 °C to room temperature (RT). Having compounds readily available as DMSO solutions greatly facilitates HTS. However, there are a number of stability and solubility issues associated with compounds stored as DMSO solutions.1–8 To ensure compound integrity for a long period of time, we have developed a simple dry compound storage concept called DotFoil, from where compounds can be redissolved in a fast, reliable, and easy way and directly used in conventional 96- or 384-well plate based HTS (1536-well format is not supported at this time). Our results indicate that compounds are more stable if stored as dry film on DotFoils, compared to storage as DMSO solutions at +4 °C or RT. Redissolving the dry film of very apolar compounds like triphenylamine, even with a very small extraction volume of 2 μL DMSO, allows > 80% of the total amount of compound to be recovered in solution using the current prototype equipment. Cross contamination between individual wells during the process of redissolving compounds was negligible. Composition of our prototype equipment, procedure, and equipment for the extraction step to redissolve the dry film are described.