end_of_string = strchr(smiles, '>');
Use the functions from libdu.a (contrib/src/libdu/utils/du_quote.c)
du_find_character(string, '>') => dt_String the_character
du_find_dataitem(tdt, tag) => dt_String the_item
du_unquote(string) => dt_String unquoted_string_copy
For writing out SMILES strings, use:
du_needs_quotes(string) => dt_Boolean needs_em
du_possiblyquote(string) => dt_String quoted_string_copy