Metal compounds identified as potential new antibiotics, thanks to robots doing 'click chemistry'

Iridium photographed on a black surface. Iridium is a metallic chemical element belonging to the class of transition metals, silver. Used in high strength alloys that can withstand high temperatures.

An iridium metal complex has been identified as a promising, if unconventional, new antibiotic drug, a new study finds.

The compound is one of more than 600 produced in a study published in December in the journal Nature Communications. The researchers used a robot to synthesize the compounds, combining metal and organic molecule building blocks to generate a huge chemical library in just a week.