2. Drawing structures using chemdraw
Introduction
ChemDraw can be used to draw simple two-dimensional
representations of organic molecules.
These structures must describe the connectivity of atoms
ChemDraw can also be used to draw Newman and Fischer
projections of organic molecules
3. Example
2-propanol (isopropanol or "rubbing alcohol")
structure A shows all bonds and lone pairs of electrons, a number of short-
cuts are often used when drawing molecules. For example, -CH3 is used to
represent the methyl groups in structure B
structure A
CH3CH(OH)CH3
structure B
4. How to start chemdraw ?
The ChemDraw screen has a vertical palette of tools on the left, a series of
pull-down menus at the top of the screen, and a blank window on which to
draw
Work through the step-by-step instructions to draw the structure of 2-
propanol shown below
5. Launch ChemDraw by clicking on the program icon (or use the start
menu).
draw a bond: Click on the bond drawing tool in the palette on the left-
hand side of the screen.
Move the cursor to the blank window, click-hold-drag-and-release the
mouse to draw a bond
place curser on page + click drag
6. Draw the other bonds
Place the cursor on one end of the bond; a black square will appear.
Click-and-drag the mouse to draw a second bond.
Click and-drag from the middle atom to draw a third bond.
Place curser on atom click and drag place curser on atom
Click and drag
7. One of the carbon atoms should be changed to a hydroxyl group:
Click on the text tool; place the cursor on the atom you want to label, a black
square will appear.
Click the mouse when the end of a bond is highlighted with a black square, a
text box will appear.
Type OH using the keyboard, and then click the mouse elsewhere on the
window. Numbers entered in atom labels are automatically written as subscripts.
select text tool place curser on atom click type label OH
8. Drawing Rings
The Main Tools palette contains the following ring tools that enable you to draw ring sizes
and types
To draw a ring:
1. From the Main toolbar, select a ring tool.
2. Click and drag in the document to orient the ring.
If you click an atom or bond with a ring tool in an existing structure, the ring is fused to it
9. Struct=Name
ChemDraw includes two features for generating structures and chemical names—
Name>Struct and Struct>Name. Collectively, these features are called Struct=Name.
Struct>Name generates the names of chemical structures using the Cahn-Ingold-
Prelog rules for stereochemistry.
Name>Struct lets you convert chemical names into their corresponding chemical
structures.
10. Using Struct>Name To generate the name of your structure:
1. Select the structure.
2. Navigate to Structure>Convert Structure to Name.
The name appears under the structure
Name>Struct:
You can type a chemical name and Name>Struct will draw the structure.
Name>Struct is not intended to interpret trade or common names.
A chemical database, such as ChemFinder.com, is more appropriate for obtaining
these structures
11. Converting Names to Structures To enter the name and convert it to its structure:
1. Navigate to Structure>Convert Name to Structure. The Insert Structure dialog box
appears.
2. Type the name (example: 2-bromobenzoic acid) or paste the copied name from the
clipboard.
3. To place the name below the structure, select Paste name below structure.
4. Click OK.
12. Moving and Rotating Structures:
Draw a molecule and then move, enlarge and rotate it using the following
instructions,
1. Click on the Lasso tool.
Click on the window close to a molecule you want to move; hold down the
mouse, circle around the molecule and release.
The circled molecule will be highlighted in a highlight box
2. To rotate the molecule:
Put the cursor at the top right corner of the highlight box.
Click and drag to rotate the highlighted molecule
13. Text writing
Text can be written anywhere on the window by choosing the Text
tool and clicking on the drawing window
Font, size and style (i.e., italics, underlining) can be changed using
the Text menu.
ChemDraw can be used to prepare structures, reaction schemes and
mechanisms
14. Structure Analysis
You can display the chemical formula, exact mass, molecular weight, m/z, and
elemental analysis for the entire document, a structure, or a part of a structure
using the Analysis window
Elemental Analysis. The percent by weight of each element in the structure.
To open the analysis window:
1. Select the entire structure, or part of the structure. If nothing is selected, the
analysis window displays value for the entire structure.
2. Navigate to View>Show Analysis Window. The analysis windows displays values
for the parts of the drawing you select, or the entire drawing if nothing is
selected.
15. Select Paste to add the analysis information to your drawing. The information
appears as a caption that you can edit.
The analyzing window view for chlorobenzene
16. Chemical Properties Window
The Chemical Properties window displays properties of the selected structure.
You can activate the window from the View menu.
Chemical properties view for propionic acid