diff --git a/gufe/components/explicitmoleculecomponent.py b/gufe/components/explicitmoleculecomponent.py
index 66f3177e7..e6c11d679 100644
--- a/gufe/components/explicitmoleculecomponent.py
+++ b/gufe/components/explicitmoleculecomponent.py
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@
 def _ensure_ofe_name(mol: RDKitMol, name: str) -> str:
     """
     Determine the correct name from the rdkit.Chem.Mol and the user-provided
-    name; ensure that is set in the rdkit representation.
+    name; ensure that is set in the rdkit representation. We also perform some sanitation of the name
+    to help downstream tools.
     """
     try:
         rdkit_name = mol.GetProp("_Name")
@@ -31,6 +32,16 @@ def _ensure_ofe_name(mol: RDKitMol, name: str) -> str:
     elif name == "":
         name = rdkit_name
 
+    # sanitize the name before we set it
+    # list of characters to replace
+    to_replace = [" ", "/", "*"]
+    if any([i in name for i in to_replace]):
+        # strip leading and trailing whitespace
+        name = name.strip()
+        for i in to_replace:
+            name = name.replace(i, "")
+        warnings.warn(f"Component name sanitized to: {name}")
+
     mol.SetProp("ofe-name", name)
     return name
 
diff --git a/gufe/tests/test_smallmoleculecomponent.py b/gufe/tests/test_smallmoleculecomponent.py
index aab901eb7..47ce51765 100644
--- a/gufe/tests/test_smallmoleculecomponent.py
+++ b/gufe/tests/test_smallmoleculecomponent.py
@@ -52,6 +52,11 @@ def named_ethane():
         ("bar", "", "foo", "foo"),
         ("baz", "bar", "foo", "foo"),
         ("foo", "", "", "foo"),
+        ("foo/bar", "", "", "foobar"),
+        (" foo bar ", "", "", "foobar"),
+        ("foo*bar", "", "", "foobar"),
+        ("foo", "foo/bar", "", "foobar"),
+        ("", "", "foo/bar", "foobar"),
     ],
 )
 def test_ensure_ofe_name(internal, rdkit_name, name, expected, recwarn):
@@ -64,7 +69,12 @@ def test_ensure_ofe_name(internal, rdkit_name, name, expected, recwarn):
 
     out_name = _ensure_ofe_name(rdkit, name)
 
-    if {rdkit_name, internal} - {"foo", ""}:
+    if "bar" in expected:
+        # we should warn if we have sanitized the name
+        assert len(recwarn) == 1
+        assert f"Component name sanitized to: {expected}" in recwarn[0].message.args[0]
+
+    elif {rdkit_name, internal} - {"foo", ""}:
         # we should warn if rdkit properties are anything other than 'foo'
         # (expected) or the empty string (not set)
         assert len(recwarn) == 1
diff --git a/news/ligand_name_cleanup.rst b/news/ligand_name_cleanup.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..00d1de15b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/ligand_name_cleanup.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+**Added:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Changed:**
+
+* The name of an ``ExplicitMoleculeComponent`` and its subclasses will now be sanitized to remove whitespace, ``/`` and ``*`` characters, a warning will be displayed when this happens.
+
+**Deprecated:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Removed:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Fixed:**
+
+* <news item>
+
+**Security:**
+
+* <news item>