A reaction prediction system called SOPHIA (System for organic reaction prediction by heuestic qproach) has been developed to predict possible products and the product ratio from arbitrary reactants under arbitrary reaction conditions. As a first step in developing SOPHIA we used the reaction knowledge base of the organic synthesis design system AIPHOS, which was derived from a reaction database, as a general knowledge base for reaction prediction. It became possible to automatically perceive a reaction site and to predict possible reaction paths without the user's designation of a specific reaction type or category. This paper describes the philosophy of SOPHIA and the current level of development together with an overview and first results.

The mechanism of solvent effects on the stereoselectivity of glycosylation reactions is investigated using quantum-mechanical (QM) calculations and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, considering a methyl-protected glucopyranoside triflate as a glycosyl donor equivalent and the solvents acetonitrile, ether, dioxane, or toluene, as well as gas-phase conditions (vacuum). The QM calculations on oxacarbenium-solvent complexes do not provide support to the usual solvent-coordination hypothesis, suggesting that an experimentally observed β-selectivity (α-selectivity) is caused by the preferential coordination of a solvent molecule to the reactive cation on the α-side (β-side) of the anomeric carbon. Instead, explicit-solvent MD simulations of the oxacarbenium-counterion (triflate ion) complex (along with corresponding QM calculations) are compatible with an alternative mechanism, termed here the conformer and counterion distribution hypothesis. This new hypothesis suggests that the stereoselectivity is dictated by two interrelated conformational properties of the reactive complex, namely, (1) the conformational preferences of the oxacarbenium pyranose ring, modulating the steric crowding and exposure of the anomeric carbon toward the α or β face, and (2) the preferential coordination of the counterion to the oxacarbenium cation on one side of the anomeric carbon, hindering a nucleophilic attack from this side. For example, in acetonitrile, the calculations suggest a dominant B2,5 ring conformation of the cation with preferential coordination of the counterion on the α side, both factors leading to the experimentally observed β selectivity. Conversely, in dioxane, they suggest a dominant (4)H3 ring conformation with preferential counterion coordination on the β side, both factors leading to the experimentally observed α selectivity.

Catalysis research is on the verge of experiencing a paradigm shift regarding how catalysts are designed and characterized due to the rise of catalyst informatics. The details of catalyst informatics are reviewed where the following three key concepts are proposed: catalyst data, catalyst data to catalyst design via data science, and catalyst platform. Additionally, progress and opportunities within catalyst informatics are explored and introduced. If the field of catalyst informatics grows in the appropriate manner, the methods and approaches taken for catalyst design would be fundamentally altered, leading towards great advancement within catalysis research.