Patents, Markush structure processing

Patent databases are therefore integrated databases because facts, text, tables, graphics, and structures are combined. In patents that include chemical aspects (mostly synthesis or processing), the chemical compounds are often represented by Markush structures (see Chapter 2, Section 2.7.1). These generic structures cover many compound families in a very compact maimer. A Markush structure has a core structure diagram with specific atoms and with variable parts (R-groups), which are defined in a text caption. The retrieval of chemical compounds from Markush structures is a complicated task that is not yet solved completely satisfactorily. 

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