Easy Way to Draw Structures to Post Here anyone?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the challenges and tools for drawing chemical structures for organic chemistry problems to be shared on the forum. Participants explore various software options and methods for creating and posting these structures effectively.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests that using structures instead of words would enhance clarity in organic chemistry discussions and seeks tools for drawing these structures.
  • Another mentions CHIME as a potential tool, noting its performance varies between PCs and Macs, but is unsure about its licensing.
  • A different participant recommends ISIS draw as an easy-to-use program for creating chemical structures.
  • Another option discussed is using ChemDraw or ChemSketch to create images, which can then be uploaded to a webspace, although this method requires additional steps.
  • One participant proposes using Microsoft Paint for drawing, despite the inconvenience of switching between text and drawing modes.
  • A concern is raised about the inefficiency of non-specialized programs for organic chemistry, as they may require excessive time to create accurate skeletal structures.
  • There is a mention of Chime being a plugin, with uncertainty about its compatibility and functionality in rendering structures.
  • A participant shares a link to a resource that suggests Chime uses RasMol's rendering engine, indicating a need to convert structures into a compatible format.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a variety of opinions on the best tools for drawing chemical structures, with no consensus reached on a single preferred method or software. Some tools are favored by certain participants while others express concerns about their usability or compatibility.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention various tools and their limitations, including issues with compatibility on different operating systems and the potential inefficiency of non-specialized drawing programs. There is also uncertainty regarding the licensing of some suggested tools.

maverick280857
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Hi

I've been wondering...there are quite a few folks who would like to post their organic chemistry problems here (including, possibly me, in future). But to do that properly, one must be able to give his/her solution/mechanism/question in the form of structures and not just words as it would make reasoning easier that way. Since we already have access to LaTeX on this system, is there any additional tool that we can use (perhaps online or even offline will do) which can accurately draw the structures for us so that they can be posted on PF as images? (A tool in the free domain would be nice...have tried RasMol and others but I wonder which is the best/easiest/quickest to use...)

Cheers
Vivek
 
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Some websites use CHIME, but I don't know much about it. In my experience it works well with PCs but sucks on Macs. I have no idea if it is free domain either.
 
There is a program out there called ISIS draw, which is very easy to use.
 
You could always draw it with chemdraw/chemsketch and then copy it to a bmp/jpg file, and then upload it on to some webspace giving us the URL to look. Or you could name the structures (good practise) or type it out!

For example, I could type phenyl-2-propanone as being (C6H5)-(CH2COCH3).

But it would be easier to just draw it! And we'd be able to incorporate mechanisms into the drawings. Instead of taking the longggggggg time explaining what could be drawn in a matter of seconds.
 
You could also just use regular draw in microsoft windows. It would be a pain because you would have to switch between text and drawing options, but it is possible just to use draw.
 
The only problem in using a program that is not specialized for organic chemistry structures is that a lot of time is spent in making the skeletons. I could tell you the compound names (and yes thunderfvck, it would give me good practise :wink:) but it would be very tedious for everyone else to figure out the reaction and get back to me.

I will try the programs you folks have mentioned though...

(I thought Chime is just a plugin...)

Cheers
Vivek
 
maverick280857 said:
(I thought Chime is just a plugin...)

Yeah, it might be. I'm not sure. But the structures have to get in there somehow, right?
 
This seems interesting: http://www.umass.edu/microbio/chime/

From what I gather, chime incorporates RasMol's rendering engine, so in order to get the structures into a chime-compatible format, you've got to use RasMol.

Cheers
Vivek
 

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