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This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I (SBIR) project will develop high sample throughput methodologies via multiplexed capillary electrophoresis (CE) for applications in the areas of combinatorial synthesis and proteomics. CE has the potential to function as a platform for a high- throughput analysis system, but suffers from unacceptable variations in migration times and injection volumes. Furthermore, today's multiplexed CE systems use fluorescence detection only, which without labeling is ineffective in detecting ~90% of all known compounds. This project proposes the fabrication and validation of a 96-capillary array CE system that employs 1) absorbance-based detection, and 2) current measurement in each capillary. The former eliminates the need and problems with fluorescence, significantly expanding the scope of multiplexed CE. The latter uses the collected current to reduce migration time and injection volume variability to the levels required for routine analytical work. Success in Phase I will lead to a Phase II program in which the analysis system will be optimized and protocols for peptide mapping and combinatorial synthesis will be developed and standardized. Potential commercial applications of this project are in markets needing high throughput screening methods. Target customers for the technology include fine chemical makers that use combinatorial techniques to develop new catalysts and other materials, pharmaceutical firms that conduct high-throughput screening in drug discovery for the development of pharmaceutical compounds, biotechnology companies that utilize peptide mapping for the rapid fingerprinting of proteins, and clinical and forensic laboratories that require high-throughput screening to analyze samples and develop evidence in criminal investigations