StrucEluc is an expert system that allows the computer-assisted elucidation of chemical structures based on the inputs of a series of spectral data including 1D and 2D NMR and mass spectra. The system has been enabled to allow a chemist to utilize fragments stored in a fragment database as well as user-defined fragments submitted by the chemist in the structure elucidation process. The association of fragments in this way has been shown to dramatically speed up the process of structure generation from 2D NMR data and has helped to minimize or eliminate the need for user intervention thereby further enabling the vision of automated elucidation. The use of fragments has frequently transformed very difficult 2D NMR elucidation challenges into easily solvable tasks. A strategy to utilize molecular fragments has been developed and optimized based on specific challenging examples. This strategy will be described here using real world examples. Experience gained by solving more than 150 structure elucidation problems from a variety of literature sources is also reviewed in this work.

This paper considers the strategy of the StrucEluc expert system application for structure elucidation of new natural products when there is a lack of connectivity information that is characteristic of protondeficient molecules. It is shown that in this case, a database search for fragments using a 13 C NMR spectrum as input allows an investigator to fill gaps in the recorded data. Algorithms and programs have been developed that allow fragments found in the library and/or proposed by the user to be embedded in the molecular connectivities diagrams built on the basis of 2D NMR data analysis. We demonstrate the structure determination of three alkaloids from the cryptolepine series using the principles of construction and application of a user fragment library. The approach described appears to be the most efficient means of structure elucidation for natural products with 2D NMR spectra characterized by sparse responses.

Described herein are applications of the latest version of the StrucEluc expert software system, enhanced to use 2D NMR data, to the structure elucidation of 60 recently isolated natural products. In this study, selected molecules containing between 15 and 65 skeletal atoms and having molecular masses ranging from 200 to 900 amu have been investigated. The correct structure was determined unambiguously for 58 of these molecules. The structures for 75% of the data sets were determined in less than one minute, while 90% of the analyses required no more than 30 minutes. The strategy of structure elucidation by this expert system is described, and several examples are discussed. These illustrate that StrucEluc is a powerful and versatile analytical tool for the structure elucidation of natural products.

The availability of cryogenically cooled probes permits routine acquisition of data from low sensitivity pulse sequences such as inadequate and 1,1-adequate. We demonstrate that the use of cryo-probe generated 1,1-adequate data in conjunction with HMBC dramatically improves computer-assisted structure elucidation (CASE) both in terms of speed and accuracy of structure generation. In this study data were obtained on two dissimilar natural products and subjected to CASE analysis with and without the incorporation of two-bond specific data. Dramatic improvements in both structure calculation times and structure candidates were observed by the inclusion of the two-bond specific data.