Algorithmic N2S Conversion and Related Software Applications

The first publication about the computer translation of chemical names was published by Garfield in 1961. In that article, he described the conversion of names into chemical formulas and initiated the path toward N2S algorithm development.45 Developments in 1967 at CAS provided internal procedures for the automatic conversion of CAS names into chemical diagrams.46 47 The first commercially available software program was CambridgeSoft s Name=Struct released in 1999,48 now patented,49 which was followed shortly by ACD/Labs ACD/Name to Structure product released in 2000.50 Two more commercial products are available Chemlnnovation s NameExpert51 and 

OpenEye s Lexichem,23 and ChemAxon52 has announced the imminent release of their own product early in 2008. As mentioned earlier, an Open Source Java library for the interpretation of IUPAC systematic names,34 OPSIN, has also been made available. In this chapter, most examples are based on Name=Struct and ACD/Name to Structure. We judge these programs to currently be the most advanced products in this area, but all considerations are general in nature and relevant to all of the conversion routines presently existing or still under development. 

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