Presented at the 36th IUPAC Congress, Geneva, Switzerland, August
17-22, 1997.
(Abstract published in Chimia, 1997, 51,
544)
Molecular Diversity Preservation Strategies: The MDPI
Project
Shu-Kun Lin
Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI), Saengergasse 25, CH-4054
Basel, Switzerland
(E-mail: [email protected] URL: http://www.mdpi.org/)
Chemists contribute not only new knowledge but also new substances.
However, more than 90% of compounds recorded in literature exist only on paper;
they were discarded by chemists. With the development of high throughput
screening technology in recent years, the acquisition of chemical samples by
collection and combinatorial synthesis now become the bottleneck in the process
of new drug discovery. The high quality of a chemical library relies on the
distinct differences of both the structures and properties of the collected
samples [1]. These compounds in isolated form are traditionally and still
routinely prepared in the laboratories and isolated from natural sources. The
first journal of organic chemistry and natural product chemistry,
Molecules (http://www.mdpi.org/molecule/), was launched by MDPI in 1995
to encourage authors to deposit their compound samples at MDPI center in
Switzerland and distribute at reasonable prices worldwide. The idea of this
program is to supply both chemical information as well as the chemical
substances themselves.
Learning from biodiversity preservation experiences [3], MDPI started in 1996
to coordinate and provide services for worldwide registration, deposit and
distribution of molecular and biomolecular samples.
[1]. S.-K. Lin, Molecular Diversity Assessment: Logarithmic Relations of
Information and Species Diversity and Logarithmic Relations of Entropy and
Indistinguishability after Rejection of Gibbs Paradox of Entropy of Mixing,
Molecules 1996, 1, 57-67.
[2] S.-K. Lin, Guide to the Deposit of and Exchange of Compound Samples,
ACS 212th National Meeting, Orlando, Florida, August 25-29, 1996.
[3] World Intellectual Property Organization, Guide to the Deposit of
Microorganisms under the Budapest Treaty, WIPO Publication No. 661 (E),
Geneva: WIPO, Reprinted 1994.