My most recent publication is now available as early access, and is entitled Rendering Molecular Sketches for Publication Quality Output (Molecular Informatics, 2013). As the title suggests, the paper describes the process of turning a data representation of a molecular structure into a graphical figure that is suitable for the most aesthetically demanding circumstances (e.g. manuscripts, posters, etc.). If one were to start with a connection-table representation of a molecule, with well selected coordinates (e.g. a typical MDL Molfile, among others), the process of creating a perfect diagram seems pretty simple compared to everything that goes on up to that point, but actually it’s not. There is a great deal of information that has to be inferred before a great picture can be produced. The paper goes into a lot of detail, and describes all of the important algorithms necessary to bridge the gap. Continue reading →