Reaction Schemes Visualized in Network Form: The Syntheses of Strychnine as an Example

• Published in: Journal of chemical information and modeling 2013-05, Vol.53 (5), p.1035-1042
• Main Author: Proudfoot, John R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analytical chemistry; Chemical reactions; Chemical synthesis; Chemistry; Chemistry Techniques, Synthetic; Exact sciences and technology; General and physical chemistry; General. Nomenclature, chemical documentation, computer chemistry; Models, Chemical; Strychnine - chemical synthesis; Strychnine - chemistry; Theory of reactions, general kinetics. Catalysis. Nomenclature, chemical documentation, computer chemistry
• ISSN: 1549-9596; 1549-960X
• DOI: 10.1021/ci300556b

Representation of synthesis sequences in a network form provides an effective method for the comparison of multiple reaction schemes and an opportunity to emphasize features such as reaction scale that are often relegated to experimental sections. An example of data formatting that allows construction of network maps in Cytoscape is presented, along with maps that illustrate the comparison of multiple reaction sequences, comparison of scaffold changes within sequences, and consolidation to highlight common key intermediates used across sequences. The 17 different synthetic routes reported for strychnine are used as an example basis set. The reaction maps presented required a significant data extraction and curation, and a standardized tabular format for reporting reaction information, if applied in a consistent way, could allow the automated combination of reaction information across different sources.