STN Express logo

Common Bonds Palette

The Common Bonds palette in the Horizontal Tool Palette of the Structure Drawing window displays some common bonds.

 A single click on a bond will select it for single use. A double click will select the bond for multiple use.

Other different Bond types can be selected by clicking on the Current Bond Box or by selecting Bond from the Draw menu.

To join two atoms by a single bond, use the Pencil Tool and click on an existing atom and then hold, drag, and release the mouse button

Modify an existing bond by selecting the bond that you want to use from the bond selection dialog and then point to the existing bond and click. Notice that the Pencil Cursor changes to display a "--" when pointing to an existing bond. You can modify several bonds by selecting the bond(s) you want to change (using the Selection Tool) before picking the new bond type.

Bonds of fixed length can be drawn by checking Snap Bonds in the Drawing tab of Structure Preferences and setting a value for Bond Length (e.g., 10 mm). Bonds are then automatically drawn to the nearest compass position so that "almost horizontal" bonds are drawn horizontally. This makes it easier to produce regular diagrams. Fixed bond length can be overridden by holding the shift key down when drawing a bond. It is also overridden when a bond is drawn between two existing atoms.

Click right on a common bond position to change the value to your own preference.

A click in this box resets the drawing tool to the Pencil tool.

Click the Reset Atom/Bond button to return to the atom and bond defaults: C for carbon atom and a single bond.

Copyright © 2017 American Chemical Society. All Rights Reserved.