Interactive Molecular Structure Alignment & Highlighting
A browser-based tool for aligning molecular structures to a common reference scaffold and highlighting the differences. It runs entirely in your browser using RDKit.js (WebAssembly) – no installation required.
How to use
- Prepare a SMILES file (tab-separated: SMILES, Catalog ID, and any additional properties) or an SDF file with your molecules.
- Enter a reference SMILES representing the common scaffold you want to align against.
- Click Load & Align. The tool will find the maximum common substructure (MCS) between the reference and each molecule, align their 2D coordinates, and highlight atoms that differ from the reference in green.
Features
- Interactive highlighting – toggle Edit Highlights mode and click individual atoms to add or remove highlights.
- Rotation & mirroring – adjust the orientation of any selected molecule while keeping atom labels upright.
- Atom selector dialog – bulk select/deselect atoms for highlighting via checkboxes.
- Configurable labels – choose font size and which molecular property to display as a second line (e.g., price, MW).
- High-resolution PNG export – export the entire grid at 2x resolution for publications or presentations.