The IUPAC-InChI Organisation is the home for the GitHub repository that hosts the source code and documentation for the InChI software and algorithm. InChI stands for International Chemical Identifier, a non-proprietary and open standard for representing and searching chemical structures. InChI was developed by IUPAC and the InChI Trust, and is widely used by chemical databases, software applications, and web platforms.
InChI is a character string that encodes the essential structural information of a chemical substance. InChI consists of several layers of information, such as the atoms and their bond connectivity, tautomeric information, isotope information, stereochemistry and electronic charge. The InChI algorithm turns chemical structures into unique and machine-readable strings that can be easily compared, stored and searched. In addition to InChI, there is also InChIKey, which is a fixed-length (27 character) condensed digital representation of the InChI.
We are finding our feet with moving to GitHub and developing the right structures and governance, and as a result here are signposts to the applications of InChI that are currently available:
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InChI – the core InChI
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InChI Web demo - a web demonstrator, with everything remaining within the browser
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RInChI – the Reaction InChI
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MInChI – the Mixtures InChI
There are further repositories on chemical standards at the IUPAC organisation
