ChemDraw Magic - Draw Viagra under 20 sec (with subtitles)

[@vanessaranjiv2970]

I have an online exam in three hours and I genuinely thought I'd have to draw all these structures from scratch to calculate Log P. Thanks for saving my life:')

[@PierreMx3]

Took me a while to make this one and I covered almost everything interesting in ChemDraw (except templates)... But I'll try to think of other things. Glad you liked

[@Leander_]

Have to say, ChemDraw isn't all THAT intuitive to use, but you make it seems like you were born using it. Fantastic educational video, thanks.

[@tehBata]

I'm going to watch this multiple times, one of the most useful videos I've ever seen! Thank you very much!

[@TheBigNormski]

This is a great video Pierre. I have been the principal developer responsible for ChemDraw development for the last few years. Using ChemDraw 13 it is no longer necessary to carve structures from their connecting bond when creating nicknames. The attachment points can be added, then the nickname defined directly from the structure. Also, the support for biopolymer creation has been greatly enhanced.

[@jamessinclair9857]

Thank goodness I found your video again! Had to reinstall chemdraw and forgot how to customize the keys. Thanks again!

[@PierreMx3]

You should check out my latest video, there are new hotkeys in ChemDraw 17, much more powerful.

[@jamessinclair9857]

ahhh but I still have 12...

[@wildemax2867]

Wow these are some insane ChemDraw skills! Thanks a lot for creating this video

[@borntoarun]

A note to Mac users - if you edit the Hotkeys file by copy/pasting a line and changing the command or value arguments, for some reason the style of the quotation marks changes to the slanted "smartquote" style automatically, and makes the command unreadable by ChemDraw. Make sure to copy/paste one of the "regular" style quote marks from the line above into each instance where the "smartquote" character shows up.

[@PierreMx3]

Thank you, please keep on forwarding to everybody you know.

[@H-SPark-sd7hl]

unbelievable. it's what i'm exactly looking forward to. amazing. and thanks for this helpful strategy to improve my chemdraw skills

[@lokomoto4919]

Very useful, thank you! Even after 7 years, this video still has so much value.

[@PierreMx3]

Great to hear! Don't forget to check out the more recent ones!

[@Kiw88d]

Hello! Thanks for the video! Could you tell me how you found the shortcuts? And possibly just real quick right now, how to auto select arrows??

[@PierreMx3]

You can view the shortcuts in the various menus, otherwise the user help guide is always handy. If you mean press a key to select the arrow tool, you need to modify the xml file like I explain in this video. Bear in mind this video was made on version 12, back in 2012. Now we're on version 19. Are you a studying at a University?

[@Kiw88d]

@@PierreMx3 Hey, thanks for the quick response! I am studying chemistry at Copenhagen University, however the version of Chemdraw which was made available to me is the 16 version. I saw that there's way more user friendliness to shortcuts in 17 and probably even more so from there on, so maybe it's just bad luck to have 16... I guess I'll have to customise the important shortcuts as I have an exam in a week. Shall I just paste "ARROW TOOL" for example? Or am I missing something... Best regards from DK :)

[@PierreMx3]

@@Kiw88d find University of Copenhagen on this website, register, and you can get version 19.0 sitesubscription.cambridgesoft.com/ Also, spread the word around!

[@Kiw88d]

@@PierreMx3 Alright, thanks! I will try this! 😊 P.S. Will spread the word, that's for sure!

[@anmijose9540]

Thankyou very much.

[@PierreMx3]

Select any cycle tool and hold "Ctrl" before you click. You will see a small circle inside the cycle and you'll have what you want

[@PierreMx3]

Some answers for you: (1) I don't think you can do that (2): After defining your labels (lower case: No; Remove text: File > Doc Settings, Prop labels, double click and delete) select a molecule go to Obj > Obj Settings, and tick "set as default". Then save your document as a .cds file and define it as default when opening a new doc (Preferences > Open Save). Untick opening changes default. Then on new documents data from the Analysis window will be formatted with your labels.

[@lunarcleo]

This is fantastic, thanks so much! I've always considered myself a fairly expert Chemdraw user, but was amazed by some of the tips. Didn't know about double clicking on a reaction arrow to select all reactants and products - that one will save me a lot of time! And I have not been taking advantage of the sprouting and didn't know how to customize my hotkeys. Great tips!!

[@NhungTran-wf9oy]

That's so useful. Amazing! Thanks so much.

[@PierreMx3]

Glad to help! Don't forget to check the other tutorials on the channel. This one is starting to be old!

[@NhungTran-wf9oy]

@@PierreMx3 after creating the hotkey backup, we change the syntax in the original hotkey, right?

[@PierreMx3]

@@NhungTran-wf9oy that's correct. Remember to only use letters and numbers. No punctuation or special characters

[@NhungTran-wf9oy]

Thanks!

[@PierreMx3]

Note at 2:00, the tryptophan is drawn incorrectly (should be connected through the C3 of the indole and not the C2). My apologies.

[@colinwilson391]

Hi Pierre. Thanks for the tutorial. It was super helpful. Quick question. With the acyclic chain tool, is it possible to stop the size alteration of the chain as you move your cursor up and down so that the standard ACS 1996 doc bond length is always used?

[@PierreMx3]

Hi Colin, glad it is helpful. That would be because you have the "fixed length" feature toggled off. Go to the Object menu and turn it on (Ctrl+L is the shortcut to do that).

[@CStanetty]

Thanks a lot - I am taken in pure amazement - learnt a lot in the last 30 minutes!!

[@haiqian8900]

Wonderful video. I have simple question: how do you quickly shift Main Toolbar key without clicking certain tool button? For example, from "lasso" tool to "single bond" tool to "ring" tool

[@PierreMx3]

Check the video at 6:50 and 10:50

[@zubntu]

Many Thanks for the simple basic information. Its really helpful for me. Please guide me a little more that if I want to show some partial charge on some atom then how I can put it there. Secondly, if I want to show just physical bonding like hydrogen bonding by dashed line then how I can put it. There is dashed line tool but it consider it as chemical bonding and removes the hydrogen as soon I put it there.

[@AlluserAllusers]

Hi Pierre, thanks, I have profited much. Forgive me for asking more questions...: (1) Analysis window has all properties selected. I can unselect some (Elem. Anal., m/z, etc.), but when reopening the program, they come back. Can I permanently define my selection? (2) Analysis Window: I want it to use "Mr" instead of "Molecular weight" - which I managed via "Obj. Sett./Auto Update". Can I define this globally? Can I use lower case (the "r" of Mr), or no text at all? (ChemDraw Ultra 12 Mac). Thx!

[@nathanbair326]

Pierre, awesome video, I've been back more than once to spread the word to other students and to learn things I missed. One questions I still have is if there is a way to change the angle of the "sprout" command. I of course want the 120 degree angle of chain drawing, but when I sprout two bonds to make a quat-center they are very close to each other. In 3D it makes sense, but I think it just looks bad. Any idea?

[@PierreMx3]

Thank you for your comment! There is no way to change the angle of sprouting, what I cannot guess from what you describe is if you have tried to sprout a gem-dimethyl ("9" over secondary carbon). That should give you a nice quat-center. Does that help?

[@nathanbair326]

I should have been more explicit. I am talking about using 9 to sprout a gem-dimethyl. Maybe it's just how my PI likes it, but I'd like to spread them out a little more. Thanks for the reply!

[@PierreMx3]

Swiss bair no problem. BTW be on the lookout for some really cool new video next week :-)

[@xzenkx]

This was so useful! Time to go draw all my transition metal catalysts and name them.

[@paulanovo104]

Thank you very much! Your ChemDraw tricks have been really helpful for me :D

[@minderjam]

I assume you use an Apple device; I use one myself too. I always use the CMD and TAB key to switch between open programs. I hope this works for you!

[@PierreMx3]

Well now you're a senior expert! You're welcome, please forward to everybody you know!

[@shimpukadebharat]

Excellent video... highly helpful, going to recommend to all my friends.

[@freedk9]

would love a video about chemdraw style sheets. how to define them and make your molecules look pretty :)

[@mmotion133]

Really nice. Makes things way more efficient. THX

[@nathanbair326]

Holy smokes, why did I just find this at the end of my PhD???

[@PierreMx3]

Swiss bair help spread the word for future PhD students!

[@nathanbair326]

I am right now, the whole lab is kinda freaking out! One question though if you don't mind, we have an issue where drawing with the normal bond tool will sometimes give a linear chain, and sometimes the same tool will draw in a circle making a cyclohexane over time. Any idea the logic chemdraw uses for this? Thanks!!!!

[@PierreMx3]

Swiss bair if it goes into cyclizing immediately undo (ctrl z) and add the bond again. That will go into extending. It's a binary process

[@PharmaMirror]

Thanks, Pierre. Great tips and tricks.

[@dfernare]

Hi there, I don't know if you've answered the following question already, but there it goes: what do I have to do if I want one of my created labels (containing another label) to expand selectively. Example: the label is a dinitrophenyl group which I call "dno", but when I expand it I don't want it to expand the two nitro groups (with the charges and all) but to let them show as "NO2". Is there any solution to that problem?

[@dfernare]

thank you very much for the video, it is really useful ,)

[@PierreMx3]

+dfernare Thanks for the message. Unfortunately the "Expand label" function expands ALL labels no matter what, and the NO2 representation is also a label itself. You would get the same if you wrote "Me", "Et", or "C2H5". The alternative would be to create and use a template rather than a label.

[@twistidbow3594]

Hi, is there a way to change the default color of reaction arrows and electron pushing arrows? Also is there a way to make all atoms show lone pair electrons without manually adding them?

[@PierreMx3]

Hi Justin, lone pair of electrons: not possible. Default color of arrows: not possible, but for the regular arrows you could create a template with arrows of different colors and have that template available as a floating toolbar

[@Musticful]

Thank you so much for your great videos, very clear and very useful! I still have 2 questions about ChemDraw and maybe you can tell me. If you convert this name 6-azido-6-deoxy-2,3,4-tri-obenzyl-D-glucopyranose to structure it work very well. If you try to name the generated structure, it will condiser it not as a sugar but as a fonctionalized pyran. Is it possible to overcome this? Last question, when showing the atoms numbering, these seem to be randomly assigned. Is it possible to assign them using the UIPAC nomenclature numbering? Best regards.

[@PierreMx3]

Thanks for your message, always glad to help. It is not possible at the moment to generate the "sugar name" from the structure. As for the numbering, it represents the order in which the atoms were generated/drawn and it is not possible to change that.

[@Musticful]

Okay, thanks for the answer :)

[@BumblyBeezies]

so hotkeys.xml is my miracle file.. I've been trying to figure out how to customize chemdraw! Thanks for the clear and concise video!

[@AlluserAllusers]

Thanks, but this will in fact change windows between different programs. What I like is to change between several opened windows of the same program. This can be useful if you use formulas with different ChemDraw settings in the same Word doc(x).

[@AlluserAllusers]

Huuh, another one: on my computer, "cmd +

[@heliotropeish]

Awesome video, this is going to save me so much time! Definitely will be using these in the future and will pass this on to everyone I know, thank you!

[@sudarshan762]

Hi, Pierre, recently I installed ChemBioDraw Ultra 13.0. In the folder Chemoffice2012--- Chemdraw, I am unable to find chemdraw items folder, which is showing in the directories of the application. Can you help me in this regard.

[@PierreMx3]

You need to enable the "view hidden folders" option. Then follow the path showed in "File/Preferences/Directories"

[@AnnKK85]

Really enjoyed the video and have all the hotkeys customised now! Do you know the command for the "Ph Ring" (the benzene ring where the pi-system is shown with a cycle, it's under "Templates" in ChemDraw)? I'd love a shortcut for that!

[@PierreMx3]

You're very welcome, please forward to all your friends.

[@Gabba543]

Thank you so much for this video! I have a further question: Is it possible to change shortcuts for "align" or "distribute"? That would be perfect! Thanks

[@PierreMx3]

I'm afraid those shorcuts cannot be modified. However if you use version 13 and 14 (this video is v.12) you can have the object toolbar to align or distribute in one click. Hope that helps.

[@Gabba543]

Thank you for your respond. I didn't know about the object toolbar and it makes things a little bit easier. ;) Actually I have another question.Though it is only 50% related to Chemdraw: Is there a clean way to number molecules and have the numbers connected to a document? For example I have a couple of Chemdraw-objects in a document and have to continously number every molecule. But if I decide to add another Molecule at the beginning of the document I don't want to renumber every existing molecule so far. Maybe you know something that could help me :)

[@leannashuster8428]

We recently upgraded to Windows 7 and now none of the Chemdraw shortcuts (even the default ones) are working. Any ideas how to get them back? It's driving me crazy having to do everything manually now that I've gotten used to your awesome shortcuts!

[@PierreMx3]

Hi Leanna, sorry for the late reply, the notification email of your message got directed to spam. It is difficult to help you as I would need more details. Things should work just fine under Windows 7, if you haven't already maybe try to reinstall ChemDraw and see if that works?

[@darrengao2105]

Great video, I learned a lot！ I am wondering whether there is a hotkey for Marquee tools? There is a hotkey for lasso tools, but it is Ctrl + Alt + Tab, which is also a system hot key for windows 7, which render it useless. And apparently there is not option in the hotkey.XmL to modify the combination. Thanks!

[@PierreMx3]

When you have the lasso selected, if you hold "alt" it switches to the marquee tool and vice-versa. You can add the marquee tool in the hotkeys.xml file with the command "TOOLMODE" and the value "MARQUEE"

[@paked13]

found this via Reddit chemistry sub section. Im sure in not the only one it has helped.

[@futhark3]

This is amazing! Thank you :)

[@PierreMx3]

You're very welcome, please forward the link to your chemist friends

[@FayneK]

This is awesome. Thank you very much. How do you get the list of the command? I want to make a hot key to 180° arc (one of the drawing elements).

[@PierreMx3]

You're very welcome. The command you want is "DRAWINGELEMENTS". Remember this hotkey will only select the Drawing Elements tool, so you will need to set it yourself to the 180° arc. In the video at 10:50 I have a written list of the commands

[@FayneK]

ChemDrawWizard I saw the command in you video, so I'm curious if there is a direct command to the 180 ° arc. Anyway, this is very helpful. Thank you.

[@laboratorykat]

Great video. I'm a new user and I have one question-how do you add a lone pair to an atom?

[@PierreMx3]

+Kathleen Webb Thanks! Look under the Chemical Symbols tool (hover over the tool to see its name), that's where you will find the lone pair

[@philipparendt5787]

Awesome video. You've been a great help. Thanks a lot!

[@PierreMx3]

You're welcome, please forward to as many persons as you can!

[@FumbleChan]

Hi and thank you for your excellent videos. I was wondering if you've found a solution or a cause to the mentioned problem of the sprout command, meaning the problem where it will produce a six-membered ring instead of a chain. If so I'd love to hear it. Thanks again!

[@PierreMx3]

Sorry for this late reply: When you sprout a bond and it cyclizes, do a "Ctrl+z" and re-sprout that bond. Every time you "undo" right after sprouting a bond, the sprouting direction will switch from "cyclizing" to "extending" or vice-versa. Same thing if you click on atoms with the single bond tool.

[@FumbleChan]

Thanks! =)

[@chiu0309]

May I ask how to toggle among different items in the tool box, for example switch from "bond" to "benzene ring"? Thanks!

[@PierreMx3]

Explanation starts at 4:15

[@chiu0309]

I thought there is a default setting for it. I guess I need to edit the file for doing it. Thanks!

[@AlluserAllusers]

Hi, thanks. I managed to change the labels in my cds files (had to put a blank space as label, leaving it empty might not be possible). Funnily, ChemDraw Ultra 2002 and 2004 remembered the selection (ticked boxes) in the analysis window after reopening the program.

[@Bearossatrice]

why is not possible to define a nickname for every molecules? for example, i can't create a nickname for ferrocene! any idea of how can i insert ferrocene faster in my molecules? tankyou :)

[@PierreMx3]

Sorry for replying so late to you... The only thing that I can suggest would be to define a molecule of ferrocene as a template. If you need to add ferrocene to another part of your structures, you always have the "Ctrl+j" command to join two selected atoms or bonds.

[@ziephk]

dude how do you switch between tools so fast.. i did the shortcut stuff by coding in in text edit. but i can't switch tools with just the keyboard

[@PierreMx3]

Check the video at 6:50 and 10:50

[@IMattHarding666]

don't worry, found it! great vid by the way, really going to help!

[@shoumo2002]

Terrific ! Thank you Peirre.

[@Jonschge]

thats cool and all but how do you draw lone electronepairs? and not the ones with two points but with an actual line?

[@PierreMx3]

You can check my next video for that for the electron pair tool. There's currently no way in ChemDraw to get lone pairs drawn as a line, only as two dots

[@dkastner]

Do you know the tool command for the Electron Pushing Tool.? It's not ELECTRONPSUHING and I've tried looking everywhere. Anyways, thanks for the great video, it helped a lot!

[@PierreMx3]

+david kastner You're welcome. It's CHEMICALSYMBOLS you're looking for

[@dkastner]

So would you add?

[@PierreMx3]

+david kastner no the command would be "TOOLMODE" and the value "CHEMICALSYMBOLS". It is not possible to choose down to the submenu item. The description is just for you, it has no incidence at all.

[@mathieuvanderdonckt2363]

Hello. Thank you for the video, it was very helpful. I'm trying hard to make a shortcut to add a lone pair, but i'm unsuccessful. Do you have an idea?

[@PierreMx3]

You can only assign a hotkey to the tool to add a lone pair, but there is no direct shortcut to produce a lone pair

[@mathieuvanderdonckt2363]

I tried a lot of possibilities but none worked. The simplest is this one: I tried with the name of the directory too (chemical symbol tools) and it wasnt better. Where am I wrong?

[@PierreMx3]

For ToolMode, use the value "CHEMICALSYMBOLS", and set the tool to the lone pair. Then pressing the hotkey will select the tool and you can click to add a lone pair

[@mathieuvanderdonckt2363]

Ok i guess it is the shorter. Thank you anyway

[@shaistaaziz]

Could you please lemme know how to number atoms and if it is possible to number only one type of atom. Is there anyway to make sure that all the structures in my thesis are of the same size

[@PierreMx3]

+shaista aziz Pressing ' (single quote) over an atom will number them. It is however only in the order in which you drew the atoms. For the same size, I'd recommend having them all into the same document and copy/paste them at the end. Hope that helps

[@TheZabbiemaster]

+ChemDrawWizard Is there a way to convert structures to displayed formulas?

[@PierreMx3]

If you select molecules and go to "View" > Analysis Window you will have this information

[@PierreMx3]

Have a look at ChemDraw Magic 2!

[@IbeOwnedByGlobalWarm]

Do you know what i need to insert in value to make a hotkey for chains?

[@PierreMx3]

ACYCLICCHAIN is the value. If you hold Ctrl while drawing a chain it will follow your mouse tip

[@Assassin_Aura]

you are not explaining anything that you click on your keyboard in between different highlighted shortcuts. i.e., drawing the straight chain of carbon atoms without selecting it on the tool bar, not telling how you are selecting the lasso tool by keyboard shortcuts not via the toolbar, and so on..

[@IMattHarding666]

i cannot find my hotkeys file, any ideas?

[@snehlatakatheria7212]

Bro....can we get this software..

[@altbeb]

Pierre- that was excellent. :)

[@lincolnsummers1235]

Wow 8 years on an still amazingly useful :)

[@sujitmaji1666]

your video is great and very helpful...................can u give me some links to JACS chemdraw template that u showed in the video or send it to my mail.............

[@mahirtz]

Great vdo.. i learned some more hotkeys. Thanks..

[@nenadstojanovic6545]

Impressive! Can you post your hotkeys.xml online?

[@PierreMx3]

You're very welcome

[@seamusc9943]

Excellent - thanks man

[@najeyrifai1134]

Do you have a complete list for the tool commands anywhere?

[@PierreMx3]

You have the complete list at 11:00

[@najeyrifai1134]

ChemDrawWizard I wanted a printable version. I ended up pulling it out of the manual. Thanks anyway! Keep up the good work!

[@TheMrMartee]

Awesome techniques. Really useful!

[@alexandermartynov8238]

Thank you, Pierre! tha't AWESOME!!!

[@matthewbrave1960]

this is awesome~! thank you ~

[@PierreMx3]

Glad you like it! Don't forget to check out the other videos

[@joeols90]

Doesn't work for me when I change the hotkeys...

[@PierreMx3]

Joel Olsson what is the behavior that you observe? Did you use special characters? Did you change the name of the hotkeys file? Did you just copy/paste command lines?

[@joeols90]

Hey! Thanks for a very quck reply, I noticed I was just stupid. Didn't watch your code meticulously enough, so the error lay therein. Thanks for a great & informative video.

[@Tienous_08]

Awesome ! You are the one ! Thanks you very much

[@PierreMx3]

Thank you! Don't forget to check the latest video I've made on version 17. This one is starting to be old!

[@Tienous_08]

Héhé, it's because I just have received the full link by one supervisor of my lab'. But surely yes!!

[@hirondevnath2513]

please show how i can able to do numbering

[@PierreMx3]

hiron devnath you can press "single quote" over atoms or select a molecule and press "single quote" to add numbers.

[@ladybellatronic]

Great video - thank you! :)

[@vmlchem]

very interesting! but wrong formula for tryptophane)

[@PierreMx3]

I'm afraid that for this one I don't have an answer.

[@2012Ravil]

Thanks a lot! Very useful!

[@souvik200]

nice one..thanks a lot

[@iitk2010]

Awesome. useful techniques.

[@PierreMx3]

You're welcome! Please go for it and spam everybody you know!

[@ponquecabra626]

Thank you so much :)

[@miljaarde01]

Thanks a lot!

[@paked13]

Thanks, very helpful

[@athousandcollegelife550]

Thank you!

[@PierreMx3]

This video is starting to be old, make sure you check CD Magiv IV for new cool stuff

[@sandroxu]

Awesome!!! Thanks!!

[@killme-vl3pv]

thanks

[@PierreMx3]

You're welcome!

[@jaspreetsingh-wl2tj]

thank you

[@sudarshan762]

Awesome Thank You

[@kresT167]

great chemdraw :-) tryptophane is wrong - "yes, I like aminoacids" :-))))

[@gopalkrushnawaghule]

gr8....thanx

[@AlluserAllusers]

Thanks, but this will in fact change windows between different programs. What I like is to change between several opened windows of the same program. This can be useful if you use formulas with different ChemDraw settings in the same Word doc(x).