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Chemistry

Working with Reactions

Read and archive the reactions recorded in notebook stoichiometry tables.

Beta: every reaction endpoint needs EARLY-ACCESS: true.

The Reactions API is read and archive only. You can list, fetch, and archive or restore reactions, but you can’t create them or edit their chemistry through the API.

Reactions are created and edited inside Benchling, from a notebook entry’s stoichiometry table. There’s intentionally no create endpoint, and a reaction’s name, components, and folder can’t be changed through the API. Only its archive state can.

Endpoints

OperationEndpointNotes
Get oneGET /reaction/{reaction_id}
ListGET /reaction/items
List a reaction’s authorsGET /reaction/{reaction_id}/authors/items
Archive / restore onePATCH /reaction/{reaction_id}Only archived and archiveReason are settable
Archive / restore a handful (up to 25)PATCH /reaction:batch-updateAll-or-nothing
Archive / restore manyPATCH /reaction:bulk-updateFile-based and async, the same flow as bulk molecule creation

What a reaction contains

A reaction links the notebook entry it came from and carries its stoichiometry as a list of components. Each component is a Reactant, Product, or Standard, and exposes:

  • role: one of REACTANT, PRODUCT, REAGENT, BYPRODUCT, SOLVENT, or CATALYST.
  • linkedMolecule: the molecule playing that role. A molecule linked to a reaction can’t have its structure edited.
  • Stoichiometry: molEquivalent, molPlan / molActual, amountPlan / amountActual (with units), purity, concentration, and calculationBase.
  • Products also carry amountYield; reactants also carry isLimitingReactant.

Numeric stoichiometry values come back as strings. High-precision fields like molEquivalent, purity, concentration, and amountYield are serialized as JSON strings (for example, "1.5", not 1.5). This preserves significant digits: a value like 6.00 keeps its trailing zeroes, which a JSON number cannot. Parse them as decimals, not floats, and don’t rely on native JSON number handling.