arXiv:2503.08537cs.AIcond-mat.mtrl-sci2025-03被引 8

LLM让化学合成规划与机理分析更智能,像专家一样思考。

Chemical reasoning in LLMs unlocks strategy-aware synthesis planning and reaction mechanism elucidation

  • 用自然语言指定合成策略,引导搜索找到合理路径
  • 在多种任务中表现优异,大模型推理能力持续提升
  • 适合需要战略规划的药物研发与复杂反应研究者

尽管自动化化学工具在特定任务上表现良好,但在捕捉专家级化学推理的战略思维方面仍显不足。本文展示大型语言模型(LLMs)可作为强大工具实现化学分析。当与传统搜索算法结合时,能实现类人专家思维的计算机辅助合成新范式。不直接操作化学结构,而是利用其评估化学策略的能力,引导搜索算法寻找有意义的解决方案。我们通过两个基础挑战验证该范式:策略感知逆合成规划和机理阐明。在逆合成规划中,系统允许化学家以自然语言指定合成策略(如保护基策略、全局可行性评估),并使用传统或基于LLM的蒙特卡洛树搜索(Monte Carlo Tree Search)寻找满足约束的路线。在机理阐明中,LLM结合化学原理与系统探索,引导搜索生成合理反应机理。该方法在多样化学任务中表现出色,更大更新的模型展现出更复杂的化学推理能力。本方法建立了一种新范式,将LLM的战略理解与传统化学工具的精确性结合,为更直观、强大的化学自动化系统开辟了道路。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

While automated chemical tools excel at specific tasks, they have struggled to capture the strategic thinking that characterizes expert chemical reasoning. Here we demonstrate that large language models (LLMs) can serve as powerful tools enabling chemical analysis. When integrated with traditional search algorithms, they enable a new approach to computer-aided synthesis that mirrors human expert thinking. Rather than using LLMs to directly manipulate chemical structures, we leverage their ability to evaluate chemical strategies and guide search algorithms toward chemically meaningful solutions. We demonstrate this paradigm through two fundamental challenges: strategy-aware retrosynthetic planning and mechanism elucidation. In retrosynthetic planning, our system allows chemists to specify desired synthetic strategies in natural language -- from protecting group strategies to global feasibility assessment -- and uses traditional or LLM-guided Monte Carlo Tree Search to find routes that satisfy these constraints. In mechanism elucidation, LLMs guide the search for plausible reaction mechanisms by combining chemical principles with systematic exploration. This approach shows strong performance across diverse chemical tasks, with newer and larger models demonstrating increasingly sophisticated chemical reasoning. Our approach establishes a new paradigm for computer-aided chemistry that combines the strategic understanding of LLMs with the precision of traditional chemical tools, opening possibilities for more intuitive and powerful chemical automation systems.

化学合成大模型逆合成

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