| abstract |
Methods and apparatus are disclosed for synthesizing a plurality of compounds such as biopolymers on the surface of supports. The synthesis comprises a plurality of steps in which reagents for conducting the synthesis are deposited on the surface of the support to form precursors of the chemical compounds and, ultimately, the chemical compounds themselves. An error in the deposition may occur in one or more of the plurality of steps. In the method in accordance with the present invention, a reagent for forming the chemical compounds is deposited on the surface of the support. A determination is made as to whether an error occurred in the depositing of the reagent. If an error is detected, then, in accordance with the present invention, the support is treated to re-deposit at least some of those reagents that were not correctly deposited because of the error in the deposition step. In one approach the support is treated to stabilize precursors of the chemical compounds, the source of the error is corrected, and the reagent applied above is re-deposited on the surface. In an alternative approach, if an error is detected, the error is corrected and only those reagents that were not correctly delivered to the surface of the support are dispensed to the surface at the locations where reagent deposition did not occur because of the error. Subsequent to the aforementioned corrective approaches, the synthesis is continued in its normal pattern wherein in any one or more of the aforementioned depositing steps an error determination may be carried out. |