Topology and the quest for structural knowledge

The atom distance Topological Indices (TI) and the ordered shells of atoms yield different approximations of the Structural Environment (SE). A partial survey of these two aspects of topology is provided, together with some insight into orthogonal TIs, the MAM autocorrelation method and the DARC topo-information theories. We discuss the generation of partition of SE into structures and structure population, as well as some symmetry factors based on permutational topochromatic symmetry groups. Applications in chemistry and drug design are provided