Molecule, design target transformation

Beyond the issues of how it is determined, molecular similarity plays a substantive role in many areas of chemical informatics and drug research. This is illustrated by the work described in the chapters of this volume, which clearly shows that the molecular similarity landscape that was once only populated with methods designed primarily to handle small molecules has been transformed. Not only does it now include improved methods for treating small molecules, but also includes macromolecules (or parts thereof), especially those that are putative targets for drugs and small molecule bioprobes. 

In organic synthesis design, like in chess, it can also be interesting to outline some medium- or long-term intermediate "target molecules". We can perharps perform disconnections to obtain certain intermediates, whose structure is appropriate in order to apply transforms of special interest. If this transform represents a reaction that affords the basic skeleton of the target molecule, probably we have attained an excellent retrosynthetic scheme. 

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