EAGER: Synthetic Chemical-Based Information Processing

计算系统大多是使用基于半导体的设备实现的，最近还使用了基于DNA的生物分子。这项提议寻求研究使用非生物小分子的计算方法。小分子的主要优点是它们无处不在、数量丰富、高度紧凑、价格低廉，并且具有许多可以并行操作的自由度。在这个建议中，研究了一种新的范式，其中从多组分的反应中产生一个非常大的和多样化的小合成分子库来编码信息。这种模式可以产生高信息密度和并行处理能力。这项提议的更广泛影响包括扩大参与和外展；研究生和本科生的专业发展；以及计算机和化学跨学科课程的课程开发。这项提议的目标是设计具有并行处理能力的新颖的基于化学的数据编码、处理和读出技术。为了实现该提案的目标，将调查两个主要目标。首先，将定义一个理论基础，以建立数据编码和处理的最终限制，作为分子库大小和仪器检测能力的函数。其次，将设计一些基于化学的处理技术，以对目标化学库执行基本的逻辑和算术运算。使用合成小分子的混合物来编码和处理信息是一个变革性的研究方向，在很大程度上还没有被探索过。这份热切的提案将探索能够建立这一新兴跨学科领域的基本技术，并确定合成、信息处理和读出的主要研究方法。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Computing systems have been mostly realized using semiconductor-based devices and, more recently, DNA-based biomolecules. This proposal seeks to investigate computing methods using small non-biological molecules. The key advantages of small molecules are that they are ubiquitous, abundant, highly compact, and inexpensive, and have many degrees of freedom that can be manipulated in parallel. In this proposal a new paradigm is investigated, wherein a very large and diverse library of small synthetic molecules is produced from multi-component reactions to encode information. The paradigm can lead to high-information-density and parallel-processing capabilities. The broader impacts for this proposal include broadening participation and outreach; professional development for graduate and undergraduate students; and curriculum development for interdisciplinary courses in computing and chemistry.The goal of this proposal is to devise novel chemical-based data-encoding, -processing and -readout techniques with parallel-processing capabilities. To achieve the proposal's goal, two main objectives will be investigated. First, a theoretical foundation will be defined to establish ultimate limits on data encoding and processing as a function of molecular library sizes and instrument-detection capabilities. Second, a number of chemical-based processing techniques will be devised to perform basic logical and arithmetic operations on target chemical libraries. The use of mixture of synthetic small molecules to encode and process information is a transformative research direction that has been largely unexplored. This EAGER proposal will explore the fundamental techniques that can establish this nascent interdisciplinary field and identify the main research methods for synthesis, information processing and readout.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.