With combinatorial chemistry, your lab can generate thousands of compounds daily. But what if you had to name them all? For ten years, AutoNom (Automatic Nomenclature) has assisted scientists with one of the more tedious aspects of synthetic organic chemistry: assigning systematic chemical names to compounds. AutoNom automatically generates IUPAC names directly from chemical structures. Input a structure using ISIS/Draw or the Beilstein Structure Editor, and AutoNom produces a correct IUPAC name in just seconds.

As illustrated, AutoNom 2000 correctly names stereoisomers by recognizing the correct Cahn-Ingold-Prelog sequence of ligands at all chiral centers. AutoNom also handles double component compounds, as shown in the bottom figure; the software can correctly name neutral organic and inorganic addition compounds and charged particles.

Save Time and Gain Consistency

The nomenclature rules proposed by IUPAC are crucial to helping scientists communicate information about chemical compounds. Unfortunately, the rules are complex and often open to interpretation by individual scientists. Algorithmic chemical naming not only collects together all of these rules, but uniformly applies them.

Developers at MDL Information Systems GmbH have teamed with IUPAC to create software algorithms for automatically implementing IUPAC rules from electronically drawn chemical structures. With the program, scientists can focus on performing syntheses rather than on becoming nomenclature experts. And organizations ensure that each compound synthesized is accurately and consistently named-a requirement for registering and ultimately mining chemical data. In fact, AutoNom is specified and used by the Beilstein Institute, one of the oldest and most respected indexers of organic chemistry, to manage all of its chemical naming tasks.

AutoNom approaches nomenclature like a nomenclature specialist. Using a structure from ISIS/Draw or the Beilstein Structure Editor, AutoNom

	Identifies the parent fragment
	Orders the other structure fragments according to IUPAC's predefined nomenclature hierarchy
	Relates all recognized fragments of the input structure (ring systems, chains, functional groups) to their corresponding name fragments
	Assembles all the structure fragments to form a systematic IUPAC name

Key Features in AutoNom 2000

 

Ability to name stereoisomers. AutoNom 2000 provides automatic and accurate names for stereoisomers, designating R, S configurations for chiral compounds and E, Z descriptors for geometrical isomers. Support for CAS ring-system naming conventions. AutoNom has always included Beilstein's preferred variants of the IUPAC rules for defining ring systems. But CAS nomenclature differs for some ring systems. With AutoNom 2000, scientists can choose between CAS and Beilstein ring-naming conventions or display both names simultaneously. Ability to number atom locants within named structures. Correct atom numeration of one structure simplifies nomenclature for its derivatives. While AutoNom has always numbered atoms in input structures prior to naming them, numeration previously displayed only the alphanumeric position of functional groups or prefixes. AutoNom 2000 now gives researchers the option to display nomenclature-based atom numeration directly in input structures.

In addition to offering an expanded ring dictionary, AutoNom 2000 gives chemists the option to choose between two established ring naming conventions: CAS or Beilstein. AutoNom can display both names, together with correct systematic atom numbering. This screenshot illustrates how ring system seniority has been extended in AutoNom 2000 to include additional IUPAC rules, such as C14.11k1.

System Requirements

AutoNom 2000 runs on Intel or Intel-compatible PCs running Microsoft Windows 95, 98, or NT 4.x. It requires 8 MB RAM and 5 MB hard disk space. AutoNom 2000 can be implemented as a desktop application. In addition, AutoNom 2000 TT provides the interface code as a DLL to allow customized installations, such as running in batch mode for naming large quantities of compounds.

To find out why AutoNom has been popular with chemists for over a decade, download AutoNom Standard (included in the Beilstein Commander) or try a free web implementation of AutoNom on ChemWeb. With AutoNom Standard, an unrestricted free version, you can test it's speed and accuracy.

If you are interested in pricing or would like to order AutoNom 2000, please click here.