M3OS: A Monte Carlo Graph Search-Orchestrated Multi-Agent LLM System for Evidence-Traced Molecular Optimization
Abstract: Small-molecule optimization integrates medicinal-chemistry reasoning and computational evidence through iterative, multi-objective decisions. When large language models (LLMs) reason over optimization histories stored primarily in conversational context, they must recover candidate identities, prior evaluations, and task constraints to guide subsequent decisions. We present M3OS, a multi-agent LLM system that decouples molecular-design reasoning from optimization-state management through Monte Carlo graph search. A persistent graph links evaluated candidates, parent-child transformations and evaluation evidence, while rewards and visit statistics guide LLM-assisted parent selection. Two branches combine tool-driven candidate generation with knowledge- and case-guided medicinal-chemistry editing. An execution harness controls graph updates through structured output extraction, molecular validation and task-bound evaluation. Agents receive role-specific contexts, while the graph preserves optimization trajectories beyond their active contexts. Across three molecular optimization benchmarks, M3OS achieves higher success rates than baselines, supporting the integration of persistent search state, specialized agents and controlled execution for multi-constraint optimization.