CHIRON program

There are a number of computer programs which can assist the synthetic chemist in the retrosynthetic analysis of a target compound. One that is specifically designed to be applied to the synthesis of chiral compounds is the CHIRON program, developed at the University of Montreal by Professor Steve Hanessian. CHIRON does not generate a full retrosynthetic tree but rather yields readily available starting materials from the Chiral Poof that contain the chirality needed to construct the product in optically pure form. 

Profile Founded in May 1981, Chiron is a 1 + billion science-driven healthcare company that combines diagnostic, vaccine, and therapeutic strategies for controlling disease. The company has research programs in gene therapy, combinatorial chemistry, cancer, infectious and cardiovascular disease, and critical care through its Chiron Technologies business unit. 

Fig. 8.1 Assigning R and S symbols and drawing two projections of compound FK506 by the chiron approach program (Hanessian 1983 Hanessian et al. 1990a Hanessian 1993) (reproduced with kind permission from the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry).

Chiral Synthon (CHIRON) is a program particularly developed for recognizing chiral substructures in a target molecule for organic synthesis. 

Once the starting point of the synthesis is established using CHIRON then another program, REACCS, from Molecular Design Limited (MDL), can be used to fill in the details of the synthetic pathway that leads to the chiral product. 

CHIRON is an interactive computer program for the analysis and perception of stereochemical features in molecules and for the selection of precursors in organic synthesis. 

Stereochemistry is also coded inside other programs such as LHASA,PASCOP, CAMEO, CHIRON,SOS, SYNCHEM2, and WODCA. ... 

---