Agent skill

Retrosynthesis Guide

by wentorai in wentorai/research-plugins

Retrosynthetic analysis and computational reaction prediction

MITAuto-check passedResearch & Science

Install Retrosynthesis Guide

skills CLI
$ npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill retrosynthesis-guide -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install wentorai/research-plugins retrosynthesis-guide --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/wentorai/research-plugins.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/skills/domains/chemistry/retrosynthesis-guide .claude/skills/retrosynthesis-guide && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
retrosynthesis-guide
GitHub stars
298
Used in
1 other repo
Token cost
~1.9k tokens
SKILL.md length
398 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
405
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Retrosynthetic analysis and computational reaction prediction

  • Works in 7 steps: Start simple: Begin with the most… → Consider availability: Check if… → Minimize steps: Convergent synthesis… → …
  • Tasks that involve Drug discovery and cheminformatics
  • SKILL.md covers What Is Retrosynthesis?, Corey's Retrosynthetic…, Computational Retrosynthesis… and SMILES Notation for Chemistry, plus 2 more sections
  • Reaches askcos.mit.edu; needs RXN4CHEM_API_KEY

What it does

Retrosynthesis Guide is an agent skill from wentorai/research-plugins. Retrosynthetic analysis and computational reaction prediction

Its SKILL.md is about 1.9k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Research & Science, covering Drug discovery and cheminformatics. The repository describes itself as: 350+ academic research skills, MCP configs, and plugins for Research-Claw and AI agents. The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • Tasks that involve Drug discovery and cheminformatics

Example prompts

  • “/retrosynthesis-guide”

Requirements

  • Python 3
  • A credential in RXN4CHEM_API_KEY

Workflow steps

7 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. Start simple: Begin with the most obvious disconnections before trying exotic transforms.
  2. Consider availability: Check if precursors are commercially available (Sigma-Aldrich, TCI, Alfa Aesar).
  3. Minimize steps: Convergent synthesis (combining two complex halves) is generally preferred over linear synthesis.
  4. Protect and deprotect wisely: Minimize protecting group manipulations; each adds 2 steps (protection + deprotection).
  5. Check literature: Search Reaxys or SciFinder for precedent before attempting novel transformations.
  6. Validate computationally: Use forward reaction prediction to verify that proposed retrosynthetic steps are feasible.
  7. Consider scale: Reactions that work at milligram scale may fail at gram scale. Check for scalability issues (exothermic reactions…

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit bf44b3c. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are python).

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    Hosts in commands or code, which the agent is likely to contact:

    • askcos.mit.edu

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names these keys or tokens, usually read from environment variables:

    • RXN4CHEM_API_KEY

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Retrosynthesis Guide loads about 1.9k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 21 tokens; SKILL.md has 398 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~21
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.9k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from wentorai/research-plugins at commit bf44b3c, republished under its MIT licence (© wentorai). 398 words, ~1,857 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/retrosynthesis-guide/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
retrosynthesis-guide
description
Retrosynthetic analysis and computational reaction prediction

Retrosynthesis Guide

Plan synthetic routes for target molecules using retrosynthetic analysis principles and computational tools, from Corey's logic to modern AI-driven approaches.

What Is Retrosynthesis?

Retrosynthesis works backward from a target molecule to identify simpler, commercially available precursors:

Target Molecule (TM)
       |
   [Disconnection 1] ← Apply transform (reverse of a known reaction)
       |
   Synthon A + Synthon B
       |            |
   [Available]  [Disconnection 2]
                    |
                Synthon C + Synthon D
                    |            |
                [Available]  [Available]

Key terminology:

  • Target Molecule (TM): The molecule you want to synthesize
  • Synthon: Idealized reactive fragment from a disconnection
  • Synthetic Equivalent: Real reagent corresponding to a synthon
  • Transform: Reverse of a chemical reaction (retro-reaction)
  • FGI (Functional Group Interconversion): Convert one functional group to another to enable a disconnection

Corey's Retrosynthetic Strategies

Strategic Bond Disconnections
StrategyDescriptionWhen to Use
FGIConvert functional groups to enable disconnectionsWhen direct disconnection is not possible
C-C Bond disconnectionBreak carbon-carbon bondsBuilding the carbon skeleton
C-X Bond disconnectionBreak carbon-heteroatom bondsFunctional group installation
Ring disconnectionOpen rings to identify acyclic precursorsCyclic target molecules
Symmetry exploitationUse molecular symmetry to simplify analysisSymmetric molecules
Convergent synthesisCombine two complex fragments lateMinimize linear step count
Common Disconnection Patterns
# Alcohol (C-OH) → Carbonyl reduction
R-CH(OH)-R' ⟹ R-CO-R' + NaBH4/LiAlH4

# Amine (C-N) → Reductive amination
R-CH2-NH-R' ⟹ R-CHO + R'-NH2

# C-C Bond (aldol) → Aldol retro
R-CH(OH)-CH2-CO-R' ⟹ R-CHO + CH3-CO-R'

# C-C Bond (Grignard) → Grignard retro
R-CH(OH)-R' ⟹ R-CHO + R'-MgBr

# Ester (C-O) → Fischer esterification retro
R-COO-R' ⟹ R-COOH + R'-OH

# Amide (C-N) → Amide coupling retro
R-CO-NH-R' ⟹ R-COOH + R'-NH2

# Diels-Alder → Retro Diels-Alder
Cyclohexene derivative ⟹ Diene + Dienophile

# Wittig → Retro Wittig
R-CH=CH-R' ⟹ R-CHO + R'-CH2-PPh3

Computational Retrosynthesis Tools

Tool Comparison
ToolDeveloperMethodAccess
ASKCOSMITTemplate-based + neuralFree (askcos.mit.edu)
IBM RXNIBM ResearchTransformer seq2seqFree (rxn.res.ibm.com)
ReaxysElsevierDatabase-backedSubscription
SciFinder-nCASDatabase + AISubscription
SpayaIktosGraph neural networkCommercial
AiZynthFinderAstraZenecaMonte Carlo tree searchOpen source
Using ASKCOS
python
import requests

# ASKCOS API for retrosynthetic planning
# (requires running ASKCOS locally or using the hosted version)

target_smiles = "CC(=O)Oc1ccccc1C(=O)O"  # Aspirin

# One-step retrosynthesis
response = requests.post(
    "https://askcos.mit.edu/api/retro/",
    json={
        "smiles": target_smiles,
        "num_results": 10,
        "max_depth": 5
    }
)

results = response.json()
for i, result in enumerate(results.get("precursors", [])[:5]):
    print(f"Route {i+1}:")
    print(f"  Precursors: {result['smiles']}")
    print(f"  Template: {result.get('template', 'N/A')}")
    print(f"  Score: {result.get('score', 'N/A')}")
Using IBM RXN for Chemistry
python
# IBM RXN API
from rxn4chemistry import RXN4ChemistryWrapper

api_key = os.environ["RXN4CHEM_API_KEY"]
rxn = RXN4ChemistryWrapper(api_key=api_key)
rxn.create_project("retrosynthesis_example")

# Predict retrosynthesis
response = rxn.predict_automatic_retrosynthesis(
    product="CC(=O)Oc1ccccc1C(=O)O",  # Aspirin
    max_steps=3
)

# Get results
results = rxn.get_predict_automatic_retrosynthesis_results(response["prediction_id"])
for route in results.get("retrosynthetic_paths", []):
    print(f"Route confidence: {route.get('confidence', 'N/A')}")
    for step in route.get("steps", []):
        print(f"  Reaction: {step.get('reaction_smiles', 'N/A')}")
Using AiZynthFinder (Open Source)
python
from aizynthfinder.aizynthfinder import AiZynthFinder

# Configure the finder
finder = AiZynthFinder()
finder.stock.load("zinc_stock.hdf5")  # Commercial building blocks
finder.expansion_policy.load("expansion_policy_model.onnx")  # Retro model

# Set target
finder.target_smiles = "CC(=O)Oc1ccccc1C(=O)O"  # Aspirin

# Run tree search
finder.config.search.time_limit = 120  # seconds
finder.config.search.iteration_limit = 500
finder.tree_search()

# Extract and analyze routes
finder.build_routes()
for i, route in enumerate(finder.routes):
    print(f"Route {i+1} (score: {route.score:.3f}):")
    print(f"  Steps: {len(route.reactions)}")
    for rxn in route.reactions:
        print(f"    {rxn}")

SMILES Notation for Chemistry

SMILES (Simplified Molecular Input Line Entry System) is the standard text representation:

# Common SMILES patterns
Water:          O
Ethanol:        CCO
Benzene:        c1ccccc1
Aspirin:        CC(=O)Oc1ccccc1C(=O)O
Caffeine:       Cn1c(=O)c2c(ncn2C)n(C)c1=O
Ibuprofen:      CC(C)Cc1ccc(cc1)C(C)C(=O)O

# SMILES rules
# Atoms: C, N, O, S, P, F, Cl, Br, I
# Bonds: - (single, implicit), = (double), # (triple)
# Branches: () for branching
# Rings: numbers for ring closure (c1ccccc1 = benzene)
# Aromatic: lowercase letters
# Stereochemistry: / \ for E/Z, @ @@ for R/S
Show full SKILL.md (162 more words)Show less

Reaction Databases

DatabaseCoverageFeaturesAccess
Reaxys130M+ reactionsExperimental conditions, yieldsSubscription
SciFinder / CAS160M+ reactionsCommercial availability, safety dataSubscription
USPTO3.7M reactionsUS patent reactionsFree (open data)
Open Reaction Database (ORD)GrowingStructured reaction data, conditionsFree
RMG (Reaction Mechanism Generator)KineticsAutomated mechanism generationFree (MIT)

Best Practices for Route Planning

  1. Start simple: Begin with the most obvious disconnections before trying exotic transforms.
  2. Consider availability: Check if precursors are commercially available (Sigma-Aldrich, TCI, Alfa Aesar).
  3. Minimize steps: Convergent synthesis (combining two complex halves) is generally preferred over linear synthesis.
  4. Protect and deprotect wisely: Minimize protecting group manipulations; each adds 2 steps (protection + deprotection).
  5. Check literature: Search Reaxys or SciFinder for precedent before attempting novel transformations.
  6. Validate computationally: Use forward reaction prediction to verify that proposed retrosynthetic steps are feasible.
  7. Consider scale: Reactions that work at milligram scale may fail at gram scale. Check for scalability issues (exothermic reactions, heterogeneous mixing).

© wentorai, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in skills/domains/chemistry/retrosynthesis-guide of wentorai/research-plugins.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit bf44b3c

Used in 1 other repository

We found 1 copy of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 1 other GitHub owner. This page covers the copy in wentorai/research-plugins, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.

Compare with similar skills

Retrosynthesis Guide next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Retrosynthesis Guide compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Retrosynthesis Guide this skillwentorai/research-plugins2981 repos~1.9kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
MolecodeAtomFlow-AI/MoleCode306—~1.9kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Drug DiscoveryTommy-yw/RunbookHermes5461 repos~2.3kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
DiffDock Molecular DockingK-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills48k1 repos~3kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
Biomedical Analysis Dispatchxjtulyc/MedgeClaw6171 repos~2kAutomated safety check: PassNone
Biopipelineslocbp-uzh/biopipelines109—~2.4kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

Similar skills

  • Molecode

    AtomFlow-AI/MoleCode

    A skill your agent uses for deterministic molecule understanding, graph-level editing, generation, and validation with MoleCode — an explicit Mermaid graph in which every atom and bond is a typed…

    306 GitHub stars~1.9k tokensUpdated 4 mo ago
    Research & ScienceAuto-check passed
  • Drug Discovery

    Tommy-yw/RunbookHermes

    Pharmaceutical research assistant for drug discovery workflows.

    546 GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~2.3k tokens
    Research & ScienceAuto-check passed
  • DiffDock Molecular Docking

    K-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills

    Predicts how small molecules bind to a protein with DiffDock, covering batch docking, pose ranking by confidence and checks on the results; not for binding affinity.

    48k GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~3k tokens
    Research & ScienceAuto-check: notes
  • Routes bioinformatics, drug discovery, clinical and multi-omics tasks from a chat interface to Claude Code sessions running K-Dense scientific skills, with a live dashboard per task.

    617 GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~2k tokens
    Research & ScienceAuto-check passed
  • Biopipelines

    locbp-uzh/biopipelines

    Design and run computational protein and ligand workflows on a GPU: binder and enzyme design, de novo backbone generation, inverse folding and sequence redesign, structure prediction, protein-ligand…

    109 GitHub stars~2.4k tokensUpdated 10 days ago
    Research & ScienceAuto-check passed
  • Retrieves chemical compound information from PubChem and ChEMBL with disambiguation, cross-referencing, and quality assessment.

    1.1k GitHub starsUsed in 2 repos~2.3k tokens
    Research & ScienceAuto-check passed

More from wentorai/research-plugins

All 405 skills in this repo
  • Abstract Writing Guide

    wentorai/research-plugins

    Craft structured research abstracts that maximize clarity and journal acceptance

    298 GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~1.7k tokens
    Auto-check passed
  • Academic Citation Manager

    wentorai/research-plugins

    Manage academic citations across BibTeX, APA, MLA, and Chicago formats

    298 GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~2.7k tokens
    Auto-check passed
  • Academic Paper Summarizer

    wentorai/research-plugins

    Summarize academic papers with structured extraction of key elements

    298 GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~1.4k tokens
    Auto-check passed
  • Academic Study Methods

    wentorai/research-plugins

    Evidence-based study techniques for academic learning and retention

    298 GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~1.8k tokens
    Auto-check passed
  • Academic Tone Guide

    wentorai/research-plugins

    Adjust writing tone and register for academic audiences and venues

    298 GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~1.9k tokens
    Auto-check passed
  • Academic Translation Guide

    wentorai/research-plugins

    Academic translation, post-editing, and Chinglish correction guide

    298 GitHub starsUsed in 1 repo~1.6k tokens
    Auto-check passed

Questions about Retrosynthesis Guide

What does Retrosynthesis Guide do?

Retrosynthetic analysis and computational reaction prediction. Retrosynthesis Guide is an agent skill from wentorai/research-plugins.

When should I use Retrosynthesis Guide?

Retrosynthesis Guide fits situations like: tasks that involve Drug discovery and cheminformatics.

How do I install Retrosynthesis Guide in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill retrosynthesis-guide -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/domains/chemistry/retrosynthesis-guide in wentorai/research-plugins) into .claude/skills/retrosynthesis-guide in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Retrosynthesis Guide in Codex?

Run `npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill retrosynthesis-guide -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (skills/domains/chemistry/retrosynthesis-guide in wentorai/research-plugins) into .agents/skills/retrosynthesis-guide in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Retrosynthesis Guide in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add wentorai/research-plugins --skill retrosynthesis-guide -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/retrosynthesis-guide, .gemini/skills/retrosynthesis-guide, .github/skills/retrosynthesis-guide and .opencode/skills/retrosynthesis-guide in your project.

What does Retrosynthesis Guide need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Retrosynthesis Guide needs credentials named RXN4CHEM_API_KEY. Our summary lists: Python 3; A credential in RXN4CHEM_API_KEY.

Does Retrosynthesis Guide access the network?

SKILL.md names 1 domain. In commands or code: askcos.mit.edu; the agent is likely to contact it when it follows the instructions. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Retrosynthesis Guide safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Retrosynthesis Guide use?

Retrosynthesis Guide is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Retrosynthesis Guide use?

About 1.9k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 7.4k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Retrosynthesis Guide?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Retrosynthesis Guide: Molecode (AtomFlow-AI/MoleCode, 306 stars), Drug Discovery (Tommy-yw/RunbookHermes, 546 stars), DiffDock Molecular Docking (K-Dense-AI/scientific-agent-skills, 48k stars) and Biomedical Analysis Dispatch (xjtulyc/MedgeClaw, 617 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Retrosynthesis Guide?

wentorai (a GitHub user) maintains it in wentorai/research-plugins, which has 298 GitHub stars. The repository holds 405 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on June 19, 2026.

Source: wentorai/research-plugins on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.