TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - BIOTECHNOLOGY - Preferred System: The block is thermally conductive and is aluminum. The containers are optically clear, transparent, semi-transparent, or translucent. The containers are made of glass or plastic. The containers are tubes. The system further comprises closures for each container. The closures are adapted to allow the addition or extraction of fluid components. The closures are adapted to be pierced by a device adapted to remove or add fluid from the container. The closures allow light to enter the container for optical inspection of the contents of the container.The system further comprises an automated means of sealing the containers. The experiment is a salt forming experiment. The system further comprising a robotic system for moving the blocks through the system. The system further comprising an environmental control enclosure. The compound-of-interest is an active pharmaceutical ingredient and the optional additional compound is a solvent or excipient. The experiment is a crystallization or precipitation experiment.The system may further comprise an imaging device, such as CCD camera, for detecting solid forms. The system further comprises a computer configured to recognize images of solids. The compound-of-interest is an active pharmaceutical ingredient and the optional additional compound is a solvent or excipient.In the system of (6), the device is an infrared spectrometer, near infrared spectrometer, NMR spectrometer, X-ray diffractometer, neutron diffractometer, light microscope, electron microscope, second harmonic generator, circular dichroism spectrometer, linear dichroism spectrometer, differential scanning calorimeter, thermal gravimetric analyzer, or melting point analyzer. Preferably, the device is a Raman spectrometer.The computer is further configured to generate a binary spectral representation for a spectrum that reflects the presence or absence of a spectral feature. The computer is configured to mutually compare spectra and generate a hierarchical clustering dendrogram. The computer is configured to cluster the spectra. The computer is configured to cluster the spectra in accordance with iterative k-means clustering. The computer is configured to cluster the spectra such that if a majority of spectra obtained from a single sample are assigned to a particular bin, then all spectra from that sample are assigned to that bin. The computer is configured to assign newly obtained spectra to at least one of the bins. The computer is configured to modify, in response to an analysis of newly obtained spectra, at least one of the bins. The computer is configured to add, in response to an analysis of newly obtained spectra, at least one bin. The computer is configured to generate a similarity matrix representing the similarity between at least two of the samples. The computer is further configured to sort the samples such that they are arranged to reflect their similarity. The computer is further configured to sort the similarity matrix such that a diagonal in the matrix represents samples exhibiting the greatest similarity.Preferred Method: The method of (1) comprises:(a) providing a system described above;(b) dispensing a controlled amount of a compound-of-interest and optionally one or more additional compounds in each of the containers;(c) optionally sealing the containers; and(d) placing the block in the thermal processing system for an amount of time.The anti-solvent is added to at least one of the containers. At least one of the containers is not sealed so that any volatile compounds or solvents it contains are allowed to evaporate. At least one of the containers contains a compound-of-interest and a solvent, and the compound-of-interest is exposed to heat, is contacted with an anti-solvent, and/or the solvent is allowed to evaporate. The solid form is a crystal.The method of (2) comprises:(a) providing a system described above(b) positioning the block near the imaging device;(c) producing images of the contents of each of the containers;(d) analyzing the images for the presence of a desired experimental result; and(e) identifying containers with the desired experimental result.The contents of the containers are analyzed for birefringence, or for the scattering of laser light. The contents of the containers are subjected to processing. The processing is heating, cooling, mixing, changing pH, changing pressure, changing the concentration of the compound-of-interest, or placing the compound-of-interest in contact with one or more additional compounds. The containers without the desired result are subjected to further processing. The identified containers having the desired experimental result are re-arrayed to an output block for further analysis. The compound-of-interest is an active pharmaceutical ingredient and the optional additional compound is a solvent, excipient, or additive. The experiment is a crystallization or precipitation experiment.In the method of (3), the spectral feature is unique to a particular form of a compound-of-interest. In methods (3), (4) and (5), the particular form is a solid form or a hydrated form. The solid form is a crystalline or amorphous form.The method of (7) comprises:(a) collecting a spectrum for each of the samples;(b) calculating a similarity metric between the spectrum of one sample and that of at least on other;(c) clustering, based on the similarity metric, the spectra into bins, each bin containing similar spectra; and(d) presenting the clustered spectra with similar spectra located close to each other.The spectra are preprocessed after they are collected. The positions of one or more spectral peaks in the preprocessed spectra are used to generate real value vectors. The binary spectra are generated from the vectors. The spectra are Raman spectra.Preferred Database: The similarity metric is a Tanimoto coefficient, Tversky index, Euclidean distance, or Hamming distance.