In patents, chemical compounds are often represented in generic (generalized) structures, the so-called Markush structures. Since these structures can often no longer be found using a free-text search, we recommend a search in special databases for generic structures, such as MARPAT® by Chemical Abstract Services.
Here we must consider the most diverse generic descriptions, i.e. descriptions with structural generic terms, as they are particularly common in patents. For example, a phenyl ring can be described as an “aryl ring”, as a “carbocycle”, or generally as a “ring”.
The analysis of the Markush results is time-consuming and must be carried out carefully, because not all hits from the databases accurately describe the searched structure.
We specialize in the execution and analysis of Markush research.