What do the colours mean?
A red glow behind a region of a molecule indicates that this region has a positive influence on the property value of the molecule in numerical terms (i.e. the value is increased). A blue glow indicates that the region has a negative influence on the property value, again in numerical terms. A green glow indicates that the region has no significant overall effect on the property. Another way to look at this is that if a ‘blue’ functional group is removed from a molecule or substituted with a ‘green’ or ‘red’ functionality, we would expect the property value to increase (for example, see the change from molecule (a) – below – to molecule (b) in which the piperazine group has been changed to a piperidine). Alternatively, if a ‘red’ functional group is removed or replaced with a ‘green’ or ‘blue’ functionality, we would expect the property value to decrease (for example, see the change from molecule (a) above to molecule (c) in which the thiophene methyl group has been removed). It is imp
