Build Menu#

The Build menu contains commands useful for creating and modifying molecular geometries.

Atomic Coordinate Editor

Open the Atomic Coordinate Editor.

Insert

See Insert.

Hydrogens

See Hydrogens.

Bond

See Bond.

Change Elements

Change the selected atoms to a chosen element.

Add Centroid

Add a dummy atom at the geometric center of the molecule or the selected atoms.

Add Center of Mass

Add a dummy atom at the center of mass of the molecule or the selected atoms.

Add Perpendicular

Add a dummy atom perpendicular to the plane of the molecule or the selected atoms.

Note

If the molecule is not planar, the plane that this is perpendicular to is the plane that has the smallest average distance to every atom.

Atomic Coordinate Editor#

The Atomic Coordinate Editor is an extremely useful environment for modifying the existing molecular structure, formatting a set of coordinates, and reordering atomic indices.

The window has several useful features:

Preset

Select a preset format for the coordinates and update any existing coordinates.

Format

Specify a custom format for the coordinates (the Help menu on the right includes more information)

Distance Unit

Select between Angstroms (Å) and Bohrs/Atomic Units (a.u.).

Note

1 Å = 1.88972613 Bohrs

1 Bohr = 0.52917721 Å

Revert

Reverts any edits.

Clear

Clears all coordinates.

Apply

Applies any edits.

Note

The text in the coordinate box will appear green when it has been edited, and black after being applied.

Insert#

Molecule

Insert a molecule fragment from the Molecules Plugin.

DNA/RNA

Insert DNA/RNA fragments using the Nucleic Acid Builder.

InChI

Insert a molecule using an International Chemical Identifier (InChI).

SMILES

Insert a molecule using a SMILES string.

Hydrogens#

Adjust Hydrogens Ctrl+Alt+H

Add any missing hydrogen atoms, and remove any extra hydrogen atoms on any atoms that violate the octet rule.

Add Hydrogens

Add any missing hydrogen atoms on atoms that have incomplete octets.

Remove Extra Hydrogens

Remove any extra hydrogen atoms on atoms with overfull octets.

Remove All Hydrogens

Remove all hydrogen atoms in the molecule.

Bond#

Bond Atoms Ctrl+B

Bond all atoms in the molecule.

Warning

This will change all existing bonds to single bonds!

Bond Selected Atoms

Bond all selected atoms.

Perceive Bond Orders

Check all atoms that have unsatisfied octets and add enough double or triple bonds to satisfy the octet.

Remove Bonds Ctrl+Shift+B

Remove bonds containing selected atom, or remove all bonds in document if there are no selected atoms.

Configure Bonding

Set a tolerance for automatic bond detection as well as a minimum interatomic distance for bonds.