Evolutionary-Algorithm-Based Strategy for Computer-Assisted Structure Elucidation

An evolutionary algorithm (EA) using a graph-based data structure to explore the molecular constitution space is presented. The EA implementation proves to be a promising alternative to deterministic approaches to the problem of computer-assisted structure elucidation (CASE). While not relying on any external database, the EA-guided CASE program SENECA is able to find correct solutions within calculation times comparable to that of other CASE expert systems. The implementation presented here significantly expands the size limit of constitutional optimization problems treatable with evolutionary algorithms by introducing novel efficient graph-based genetic operators. The new EA-based search strategy is discussed including the underlying data structures, component design, parameter optimization, and evolution process control. Typical structure elucidation examples are given to demonstrate the algorithm's performance.