Recovering molecules from coarse-grained beads: free-energy-conditioned generative backmapping across chemical space
2026-09-07 12:00Science🔥 42.2 heat score
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The research team proposed a discrete denoising diffusion model named Juniper, aimed at solving the problem of reconstructing molecules from coarse-grained beads. This model uses the syngas-water partition free energy (ΔG_W→O) as the generation condition, and the training data covers chemical spaces with up to 9 heavy atoms mapped to one or two beads. Experiments show that for the dual-bead target, Juniper generates molecules with an effective rate of 93% and uniqueness of 92%, and its predicted free energy distribution shows a high linear correlation with the target values (r²≥0.96). Even when only individual scalar free energy information is provided, the model can systematically adjust the functional group structures, successfully achieving transformations from non-polar branched hydrocarbons to polar amides, isocyanates, and other structures. This achievement enables the conversion of bead combinations based on coarse-grained screening markers into candidate molecules for atomic-level research or synthesis.