Title: MOL file format
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - MOL file format
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.MT06966
Status: current

Definition
The MOL file format is used to encode chemical structures, substructures and conformations as text-based connection tables. It is used by MDL Information Systems Inc. (e.g., in their MACCS or ISIS programs).

Related Term
- molfile: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/MT06973

Source
- PAC, 1997, 69, 1137. 'Glossary of terms used in computational drug design (IUPAC Recommendations 1997)' on page 1146 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199769051137)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/MT06966/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/MT06966/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/MT06966/xml

Citation: Citation: 'MOL file format' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.MT06966
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
Collection: If you are interested in licensing the Gold Book for commercial use, please contact the IUPAC Executive Director at executivedirector@iupac.org .
Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-04-18T17:38:27+00:00