Feature counts molecular descriptor

TTie structural features are represented by molecular descriptors, which are numeric quantities related directly to the molecular structure rather than physicochemical properties. Examples of such descriptors include molecular weight, molecular connectivity indexes, molecular complexity (degree of substitution), atom counts and valencies, charge, molecular polarizability, moments of inertia, and surface area and volume. Once a set of descriptors has been developed and tested to remove interdependent/collinear variables, a linear regression equation is developed to correlate these variables with the retention parameter of interest, e.g., retention index, retention volume, or partition coefficient The final equation includes only those descriptors that ate statistically significant and provide the best fit to the data. For more details on QSRR and the development and use of molecular descriptors, the reader is referred to the literature [188,195,198,200-202 and references therein]. 

There are several ways in which molecular descriptors can be classified. The majority of descriptors are atom-based rather than field-based. The bulk of this review is focused on a discussion of atom-based descriptors. As the name implies, atom-based descriptors are based on individual atoms, with the description extending outward to incorporate information about the atom s environment. The descriptors are typically generated by analysis of 2D or 3D connection tables, and can include ID, 2D, or 3D information about the molecule. Atom-based descriptors include individual atoms, feature counts, substructural fragments, topological indices, atomic properties, pharmacophores (see Chapters 17 and 18 of this book), and calculated physicochemical properties. 

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