ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION It is a general belief that a correlation exists between the molecular structures of chemicals and their biological activities. The study of such a correlation comprises the field of structure-activity relationship (SAR) analysis. Structureactivity relationship analysis has long served as an essential tool in the research and development of industrial, agricultural, and pharmaceutical chemicals for beneficial application purposes. To protect public health from exposure to the large number of existing chemicals for which adequate toxicological data do not exist, SAR analysis is often the first line of approach in hazard evaluation and risk assessment. Structure-activity relationship analysis has also been used by both industry and government agencies for assessing and predicting potential health hazards of chemicals early in the research and premanufacture stage. Structure-activity relationship consideration plays an increasingly important role
in prioritizing chemicals for testing, designing test strategies, identifying research needs, and providing mechanistic insight to support risk assessment and regulatory decision-making.
