SynAgent is a framework that uses large language model agents to run autonomous experiments while building an explicit, revisable understanding of the synthesis process. Unlike traditional black‑box optimizers, SynAgent generates analysis skills on the fly and reasons multimodally over data such as X‑ray diffraction patterns and electron micrographs. In an 18‑experiment campaign on LiCoO₂ thin‑film deposition, SynAgent produced highly crystalline films and uncovered a sharp temperature threshold and optimal growth window (650–690 °C) for crystallization.
Self-driving laboratories can explore synthesis conditions autonomously, but their decision-making layer is typically a black-box optimizer, and the output is a set of optimized samples, with the meas...
arXiv:2508.05427v2 Announce Type: replace Abstract: Large language models (LLMs) are beginning to reshape how organic-synthesis workflows are represented, queried, planned, and connected to experimen...
The article reviews methods for assessing large language model (LLM) based AI agents in materials synthesis, focusing on their integration with experimental tools. It outlines evaluation strategies—including knowledge, reasoning, tool‑use, and closed‑loop benchmarks—and applies them to atomic layer deposition (ALD) as a case study. A practical framework for evaluating LLMs in this context is also presented.
The Perspective reviews the rapid growth of agentic AI systems in computational chemistry, noting an increase from a handful in 2024 to about fifty by August 2026. These systems are evolving from assisting with specific tasks to autonomously designing, executing, and analyzing in‑silico experiments, even drafting manuscripts. While fully autonomous AI scientists are not yet realized and human oversight remains, the trend toward commoditized generalist agents suggests a future where specialized systems may become obsolete, prompting reflection on the field’s direction and priorities.
arXiv:2608. 07454v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: The total synthesis of a complex molecule is among the most demanding intellectual and experimental feats in chemistry: a chemist must plan many steps ahead for how to assemble simple building blocks into an intricate target, devise backup strategies, and anticipate procedural challenges.
The article introduces the concept of agentic programs—scientific software that blends deterministic algorithms with bounded large‑language‑model (LLM) judgment, task‑specific verification, episodic maturation, and full delegation in production. It argues that recent LLM‑based agents enable this new form of computational materials science software. The authors illustrate the idea with DeMARS, an agentic program designed to build atomistic models from experimentally measured disordered crystal structures.
La Agente ’Optima is an agentic framework that builds and manages Bayesian optimization campaigns for self‑driving laboratories, separating large language model reasoning from campaign execution. It maintains a persistent optimization state, allowing consistent repetitive loops and auditable decisions, and only returns control to the agent when interpretation or revision is needed. In tests on digital discovery tasks and physical platforms, it corrected measurement failures, improved yields, and recommended formulation changes, outperforming human‑directed campaigns in cost and material usage.
arXiv:2610.07862v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: A central challenge for scientific agents is to turn analytical experience into reusable expertise grounded in physical evidence. Here we introduce G...
The paper introduces ARCHE, an autonomous system that combines a general-purpose reasoning model, a domain-specialized computational chemistry model, and a structured tool registry to automate chemical mechanism discovery. ARCHE interprets scientific questions, generates and prioritizes mechanistic hypotheses, orchestrates computational workflows, and refines conclusions in a closed loop. The authors validate the system on three challenging scenarios, including reconstructing stereocontrolling transition states, proposing a radical pathway for an unpublished reaction, and identifying a descriptor governing selectivity in nickel-catalyzed cross‑coupling reactions.
arXiv:2510.26824v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Wide access to advanced experimental methods in materials science has given rise to an abundance of procedural knowledge, which is scattered...
The paper introduces EvoSyn, a learning‑feedback‑driven multi‑agent framework for agentic data synthesis. EvoSyn organizes synthesis around a revisable state that specifies which interaction factors can be generated and where synthesis effort should be focused. By translating learner feedback into synthesis revisions and allocating synthesis directions, EvoSyn adapts within the existing synthesis space and expands it to include newly discovered controllable factors, achieving a 13.3‑point improvement in task success on benchmark tests.
arXiv:2601. 13508v4 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Autonomous agents are beginning to transform scientific research from tool-assisted workflows toward self-sustaining discovery processes.