Editing Laboratory robotics (section)

===Purification===
Simulated distillation, a type of [[gas chromatography]] testing method used in the petroleum, can be automated via robotics. An older method used a system called ORCA (Optimized Robot for Chemical Analysis) was used for the analysis of petroleum samples by simulated distillation (SIMDIS). ORCA has allowed for shorter analysis times and has reduced maximum temperature needed to elute compounds.<ref>William F. Berry, V. G., Automated simulated distillation using an articulated laboratory robot system. Journal of Automatic Chemistry 1994, 16 (6), 205-209.</ref> One major advantage of automating purification is the scale at which separations can be done.<ref>Paegel, Brian M., Stephanie H. I. Yeung, and Richard A. Mathies. "Microchip Bioprocessor for Integrated Nanovolume Sample Purification and DNA Sequencing." Analytical chemistry 74.19 (2002): 5092-98.</ref> Using microprocessors, ion-exchange separation can be conducted on a nanoliter scale in a short period of time.

Robotics have been implemented in liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) to streamline the process of preparing biological samples using 96-well plates.<ref>Peng, S. X.; Branch, T. M.; King, S. L., Fully Automated 96-Well Liquid−Liquid Extraction for Analysis of Biological Samples by Liquid Chromatography with Tandem Mass Spectrometry. Analytical Chemistry 2000, 73 (3), 708-714.</ref> This is an alternative method to solid-phase extraction methods and protein precipitation, which has the advantage of being more reproducible and robotic assistance has made LLE comparable in speed to solid phase extraction. The robotics used for LLE can perform an entire extraction with quantities in the microliter scale and performing the extraction in as little as ten minutes.