APPLICATIONS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE FOR CHEMICAL INFERENCE .30. COMPUTER-ASSISTED EXAMINATION OF CHEMICAL-COMPOUNDS FOR STRUCTURAL SIMILARITIES

An algorithm for finding common substructures among a potentially large and diverse set of chemical structures is described. The algorithm has been implemented in an interactive computer program called MAXSUB. The program allows the chemist to specify his definition of what constitutes “commonality” of substructures by providing control over the importance of degree of substitution, hybridization, atom type, and ring membership of atoms in substructures and multiplicity of bonds between atoms. Applications to problems involving topological representations of chemical structures, including macrolide antibiotics and marine sterols, are discussed briefly to illustrate the program. Some possible extensions to dealing with three-dimensional representations of structures are mentioned. © 1979, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.