Protecting-Group Economy: Route Step Simulator (2D)

Every synthetic chemist faces the same trade-off encoded in Green Chemistry Principle #8, "reduce derivatives": a protecting group can rescue a messy, low-selectivity reaction by masking the reactive site — but every protect/deprotect pair adds two more steps, more reagent mass, and more chances to lose material to a failed step. This 2D side-view simulator runs a real batch of molecules down a conveyor through either a protecting-group route (protect → functionalize → deprotect) or a direct route (functionalize the unprotected molecule), rolling a genuine per-step yield for every particle and tallying real per-step mass balance. Three live readouts — overall route yield, atom economy and E-factor — update from that mass balance in real time, so you can find the exact point where a protecting group stops paying for itself. Drag the canvas to pan and scroll/pinch to zoom.