Improving the quality of published chemical names with nomenclature software

This work deals with the use of organic systematic nomenclature in scientific literature, its quality, and computerized methods for its improvement. Criteria for classification of systematic names in terms of quality/correctness are discussed and applied to a sample set of several hundred names extracted from the literature. The same structures are named with three popular state-of-the-art nomenclature programs - AutoNom 2000, ChemDraw 10.0, and ACD/Name 9.0. When comparing the results, all nomenclature tools show a significantly better performance than 'average chemists'. One program allows the generation not only of IUPAC names but also of CAS-like index names that are compared with the officially registered names. The scope and limitations of nomenclature software are discussed and a comparison of the programs' actual capabilities is given.