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by simlan 2260 days ago
In a usual lab no automation whatsoever. When something goes commercial there are two routes. One is adapting to bigger batches where you will get some automation (dosing, temperatur controll, mixing). The last step is to have full blown process where you pipe stuf from reaction a to b. However, that last one works best with large scale basic chemicals. Think all kinds of polymer materials.

There is a trend to get pharmaceuticals to a stage where flow chemistry can be used (like a small version of the full blown basic chemicals processes). This is however still a research field because a lot of processes don't lend themselves to continue flow.

The most automation in chemistry can be found in the analytical side of things. A good example right now are the covid tests that are run on large automated liquid handling systems.