arXiv AI

Large Language Models Transform Organic Synthesis From Reaction Prediction to Automation

arXiv AI
Aug 10

Strategy-first synthesis planning for complex natural products

arXiv:2608. 07454v1 Announce Type: cross Abstract: The total synthesis of a complex molecule is among the most demanding intellectual and experimental feats in chemistry: a chemist must plan many steps ahead for how to assemble simple building blocks into an intricate target, devise backup strategies, and anticipate procedural challenges.

By Daniel Armstrong, Xuan-Vu Nguyen, Octavian Susanu, Gabriel Gibberd, Th\'eo A. Neukomm, Tadd\"aus Strunden, Dan Forster, Morgane Delattre, Shawn Teh, Cl\'ement Rols, John Federice, Hayden Leatherwood, M. Lavelle Barnes, Maarten R. Dobbelaere, Peter Wipf, Jon T. Njardarson, Jieping Zhu, Philippe Schwaller
arXiv AI
Aug 20

Training Chemical Plausibility-Aware Large Language Models for Single-Step Retrosynthesis

The paper introduces Top‑K prompting as a training and inference strategy to better capture the diverse, plausible predictions inherent in single‑step retrosynthesis. Using an ultra‑large dataset (CREED‑CCV‑2+USPTO‑XL) of ~45.6 million verified reactions, the authors train the Chemistry Constraint‑Consistent Language Model (C3LM). With fine‑tuning that incorporates ChemCensor‑based and novelty‑oriented rewards, C3LM achieves state‑of‑the‑art performance on the OOD URSA‑expert‑2026 benchmark and demonstrates complementary reaction space exploration compared to conventional models, suggesting benefits for ensemble‑based retrosynthesis systems.

By Bogdan Zagribelnyy, Ivan Ilin, Nikita Bondarev, Maksim Kuznetsov, Mathieu Reymond, Vladimir Aladinskiy, Alex Aliper, Alex Zhavoronkov
arXiv AI
Sep 1

LeMat-Synth: a multi-modal toolbox to curate broad synthesis procedure databases from scientific literature

arXiv:2510.26824v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Wide access to advanced experimental methods in materials science has given rise to an abundance of procedural knowledge, which is scattered...

By Magdalena Lederbauer, Siddharth Betala, Valerie Gentzke, Anamaria Leonescu, Amine Sehaba, Faris Flaifil, Ayush Jain, Alfonso Amayuelas, Nikhil Yelamarthy, Xiyao Li, Gr\'egoire Germain, Stefano Ribes, Stefan P. Schmid, Alexandre Nozadze, Anna Kelmanson, Sudheesh Kumar Ethirajan, Mohd Zaki, Elton Pan, Georgia Channing, Connor W. Coley, Philippe Schwaller, Roc\'io Mercado, Alexandre Duval, Mathilde L. D. Franckel, Samuel P. Gleason
arXiv AI
Jun 2

When Single Answer Is Not Enough: Rethinking Single-Step Retrosynthesis Benchmarks for LLMs

arXiv:2602. 03554v2 Announce Type: replace-cross Abstract: Recent progress has expanded the use of large language models (LLMs) in drug discovery, including synthesis planning.

By Bogdan Zagribelnyy, Ivan Ilin, Maksim Kuznetsov, Nikita Bondarev, Mathieu Reymond, Roman Schutski, Thomas MacDougall, Rim Shayakhmetov, Zulfat Miftakhutdinov, Mikolaj Mizera, Vladimir Aladinskiy, Alex Aliper, Alex Zhavoronkov
arXiv AI
Jul 2

Agentic generation of verifiable rules for deterministic, self-expanding reaction classification

arXiv:2607. 01061v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: Computer-assisted synthesis planning breaks target molecules into accessible precursors using large libraries of reaction rules that assign each transformation a deterministic, interpretable label.

By Daniel Armstrong, Maarten Dobbelaere, Valentas Olikauskas, Helena Avila, Octavian Susanu, J\'er\^ome Waser, Philippe Schwaller
arXiv AI
2d ago

Hypothesis-Driven Autonomous Materials Synthesis with Multimodal LLM Agents

SynAgent is a framework that uses large language model agents to run autonomous experiments while building an explicit, revisable understanding of the synthesis process. Unlike traditional black‑box optimizers, SynAgent generates analysis skills on the fly and reasons multimodally over data such as X‑ray diffraction patterns and electron micrographs. In an 18‑experiment campaign on LiCoO₂ thin‑film deposition, SynAgent produced highly crystalline films and uncovered a sharp temperature threshold and optimal growth window (650–690 °C) for crystallization.

By Izumi Takahara, Kazunori Nishio, Akira Aiba, Shigeru Kobayashi, Takao Nakajima, Taro Hitosugi, Teruyasu Mizoguchi
arXiv AI
Sep 12

Autonomous Chemical Mechanistic Discovery through Agentic Reasoning and Validation

The paper introduces ARCHE, an autonomous system that combines a general-purpose reasoning model, a domain-specialized computational chemistry model, and a structured tool registry to automate chemical mechanism discovery. ARCHE interprets scientific questions, generates and prioritizes mechanistic hypotheses, orchestrates computational workflows, and refines conclusions in a closed loop. The authors validate the system on three challenging scenarios, including reconstructing stereocontrolling transition states, proposing a radical pathway for an unpublished reaction, and identifying a descriptor governing selectivity in nickel-catalyzed cross‑coupling reactions.

By Dong Li, Sixuan Mi, Zihao Ye, Huan Xiong, Tao XU, Tong Zhu, Aijia Zhang, Junqi Gao, Kaiyan Zhang, Shijie Wang, Bowen Zhou, Yuqiang Li, Biqing Qi