Submitting your first retrosynthesis

To submit a retrosynthesis job, open the Retrosynthesis page from the sidebar. This tutorial walks through a first run end-to-end, from a SMILES string to a finished route tree.

Pick a target molecule

Any molecule works. For this first run, try aspirin — small enough to return results quickly, familiar enough that the proposed routes make chemical sense at a glance.

Fill in the form

1. Enter a SMILES string for your target molecule in the input field, or switch to the Draw tab to sketch the structure with Ketcher. The input validates in real time — a green checkmark means the structure parses cleanly.
2. Configure options: set the number of steps (2–8), choose a precedent level, and optionally specify a starting material.
3. Click Submit Request to queue the job. Your submission appears in the table below the form with a status of Queued.

Wait for the job to complete

Jobs run one at a time. A 3-step job typically finishes in 1–2 minutes; an 8-step job can take 5–10 minutes. The page auto-refreshes every 15 seconds while you have active jobs.

Once the status changes to Completed, click Details to open the result viewer.

What to read next

• Understanding your results — interpret scores, badges, and hover cards on a finished result.
• Troubleshooting — what to do if the job returns empty, is rejected, or gets stuck.