Re: CCL:SUMMARY - Reaction Pathway Programs

 Folks,
 Joe has done a nice job gathering and summarizing
 information about retro-synthesis planning programs.
 I would like to have this conversion move in a slightly
 different direction.  A lot of these programs have been
 around for a long time yet it seems that none has really
 caught on in the market place.
 What are peoples opinions on why these programs are not
 routinely used for synthesis planning today?
 I have a few questions to start out:
 Do they give too many hypothetical answers but not practical?
 Do they give too many answers (or repetative answers - same substructure)?
 Is the software too difficult to use without a lot of training?
 Does the software fail to reveal anything new to trained synthetic chemists?
 Is it too expensive or run on the wrong platforms?
 Does it lack integration with reaction data, availability, etc?
 Is it too time consuming to run for many users?
 What can be done to make these programs more useful?
 Many thanks in advance,
 Kevin
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 Kevin P. Cross, Ph.D.
 Senior Associate Research Scientist
 Chemical Abstracts Service
 (614)-447-3600 Ext. 3192
 kcross.,at,.cas.org
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