Chemical graph theory is the topology branch of mathematical chemistry which applies graph theory to mathematical modelling of chemical phenomena.
[1] The pioneers of chemical graph theory are Alexandru Balaban, Ante Graovac, Iván Gutman, Haruo Hosoya, Milan Randić and Nenad Trinajstić[2] (also Harry Wiener and others).
In 1988, it was reported that several hundred researchers worked in this area, producing about 500 articles annually.
A number of monographs have been written in the area, including the two-volume comprehensive text by Trinajstić, Chemical Graph Theory, that summarized the field up to mid-1980s.
Others contend that graphs play only a fringe role in chemical research.