Synthesis design logic and the SYNGEN (synthesis generation) program

We develop here a systematic approach to locating within the vast "synthesis tree" of possible routes to any target molecule just those few syntheses which are optimal with respect to efficiency of assembly. The approach has two phases. all ways which produce convergent assembly plans from starting skeletons available in a catalog. In the second the chemistry is generated to produce all paths of construction reactions only, from real starting materials, for each such plan. The SYNGEN program to execute this search is described, as well as some current developments for program expansion. In the first the target skeleton is dissected The literature of organic chemistry contains virtually nothing on the logic involved in the design of a synthesis. synthesis design in practice is an art in the midst of the science, background can one assess how good a synthesis is, whether another route might be shorter or cheaper? synthesis? underlying logic possible for the selection of an optimal synthetic route to any target molecule. In a science as logical as organic chemistry this is surprising: Against what theoretical