Molecular modelling in design of crop protection chemicals.

Specific examples from pesticide research are given which illustrate the types of analysis employed to design optimal inhibitors for a given receptor, based on the assumption that a congeneric series of compounds behave in a related mode in the biosystem. The examples illustrate the complementary role played by computational chemistry, X-ray crystallography and computer graphics and also raise questions as to the current limitations of existing molecular mechanics and quantum mechanics techniques.