Template Browser
To drop in a structure such as glycine, tetrahydrofuran or a Boc group without drawing it bond by bond, use the Template Browser (the dialog is titled Template Library). Open it from Insert > Templates…, with Ctrl+Shift+T or Shift+T, or with the Templates button in the action bar.
Browsing and searching
The sidebar filters by category: All, Simple Molecules, Functional Groups, Aromatics, Heterocycles, Amino Acids, R Groups, Protecting Groups, Fischer Projections, Newman Projections, Haworth Projections, and Chair Conformations. Each card shows a thumbnail, the template name, and its formula. The search box narrows the grid as you type, matching names, formulas, categories, and tags.
Placing a template
- Click a card. The dialog closes, the cursor becomes a crosshair, and a faint preview of the template follows the pointer.
- Click the canvas where you want the structure.
To cancel without placing anything, press Esc or right-click.
The placed structure is selected and the Select tool becomes active, so you can move it into position. Templates are scaled to the document’s default bond length, so they match what you have already drawn. While the preview is showing, your active tool does not change.
Lone pairs
The Add lone pairs checkbox in the dialog footer auto-fills lone pairs on every atom of the templates you place, computed from each atom’s bonding. The setting lasts until you reload the app.
Projection templates
Templates from the four projection categories arrive as projection objects. A Fischer template is a working Fischer projection, a Newman template can be rotated like any Newman diagram, and so on. Edit them the same way as projections you build yourself. See Projections.
See also
- Projections for editing placed Fischer, Newman, Haworth, and chair templates
- Abbreviations for collapsing groups into short labels instead of drawing them