Notation system allows scientists to communicate polymers more easily

Having a compact, yet robust, structurally-based identifier or representation system for molecular structures is a key enabling factor for efficient sharing and dissemination of results within the research community. Such systems also lay down the essential foundations for machine learning and other data-driven research. While substantial advances have been made for small molecules, the polymer community has struggled in coming up with an efficient representation system. For small molecules, the basic premise is that each distinct chemical species corresponds to a well-defined chemical structure. This does not hold for polymers.