High-throughput property-driven generative design of functional organic molecules

• Published in: Nature Computational Science Vol. 3; no. 2; p. 139
• Main Authors: Westermayr, Julia, Gilkes, Joe, Barrett, Rhyan, Maurer, Reinhard J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.02.2023
• Subjects: Electronics; High-Throughput Screening Assays
• ISSN: 2662-8457
• DOI: 10.1038/s43588-022-00391-1

The design of molecules and materials with tailored properties is challenging, as candidate molecules must satisfy multiple competing requirements that are often difficult to measure or compute. While molecular structures produced through generative deep learning will satisfy these patterns, they often only possess specific target properties by chance and not by design, which makes molecular discovery via this route inefficient. In this work, we predict molecules with (Pareto-)optimal properties by combining a generative deep learning model that predicts three-dimensional conformations of molecules with a supervised deep learning model that takes these as inputs and predicts their electronic structure. Optimization of (multiple) molecular properties is achieved by screening newly generated molecules for desirable electronic properties and reusing hit molecules to retrain the generative model with a bias. The approach is demonstrated to find optimal molecules for organic electronics applications. Our method is generally applicable and eliminates the need for quantum chemical calculations during predictions, making it suitable for high-throughput screening in materials and catalyst design.