Chemistry Add-In for Microsoft Word

CML is Cool

‘Why Should I Use Chem4Word?’

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It’s a valid question.

After all, there are now lots of chemical content creation tools. Some, like ChemDraw, and Biovia Draw have been around for decades and are well-established. They come with lots of nice features. You don’t have to look far to find something that fits your needs.

So why Chem4Word? If you are a student, teacher, professional chemist or simply interested in chemistry, Chem4Word is for you. You can create your own documents with fully semantic chemistry. No other chemical drawing tool supports this.

Here are some more reasons why you should use Chem4Word:

Chem4Word is free!

That’s right: completely free. The Chem4Word application is and will continue to be free. Whether you’re a student, teacher or professional scientist, the Apache 2.0 license means that you can use it completely free of charge! You can distribute the package as you see fit.

Chem4Word understands Word.

We designed Chem4Word to fully integrate with Microsoft Word. And everything is at your fingertips. No more cutting and pasting between apps. No more scratching-about, trying to find favourite molecules!

Our in-document rendering of chemistry is class-leading. Our ACME editor is fast, powerful and responsive, and fully supports reactions.

Synthesis of TNT in ASCME

Chem4Word comes with Libraries

You can store chemistry and search for it easily. Soon, we’ll be allowing you to compose and support your own libraries of molecules and reactions.

We Support Open Information!

Too much important information is locked away. Even when you create your own, the people who produce the tools make it difficult for you to get at.

Chem4Word opens the information up for anyone to consume! Chemical Markup Language (CML) underpins it all. And it’s human readable and you can extract chemistry from documents. Your content is open and reusable!

We Listen to Your Needs.

Our FaceBook forum allows you to tell us what you want from Chem4Word. Join it and start talking today!

SketchEl file support coming in V3.3

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To celebrate WebMolkit having its license changed to Apache 2.0 we are working on allowing end users to read and write SketchEl files. The full specification for SketchEl files can be found in GitHub here.

This new converter will be present in V3.3 when we release it. We are hoping to release the first beta at the beginning of August 2023.

Implementation notes

  1. Chem4Word does not support quadruple bonds.
    These will be converted to zero bonds.
  2. Chem4Word does not support stereo features on anything other than single bonds.
    If stereo features are encountered then the bond type is set to single.
  3. Abbreviations which are unknown to Chem4Word will be converted to “??”
    This is our internal indication of Unknown atom type.
  4. Other features of the SketchEl file that Chem4Word does not support are gracefully ignored.

If you want to have a “play” with creating SketchEl files, please head off to the main Molecular Materials Information home page, there is a demo of the WebMolkit Sketcher a little way down the page.

Note: If you have a SketchEl file that you want to import into Sketcher / WebMolkit and you are using Windows you must use <Ctrl>+<Shift>+V to paste in the structure from your clipboard.

Improved Chemical Libraries are coming to Chem4Word!

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Libraries in Chem4Word are just what they say: collections of reusable chemistry, catalogued for quick access.

Chem4Word didn’t used to supply a Library. Early versions had the Gallery: a collection that was stored in a standard Word template, but this was clunky and error-prone.

Version 2.0 introduced the Library (singular!). We bundled a compact database with Chem4Word which allowed to you easily store and catalogue your own chemistry. Recent versions of Chem4Word added about 2000 natural products to the Library. We did this because we wanted to show off the speed and power of the new functionality.

Version 3.3 of Chem4Word includes vastly enhanced Libraries (note the plural!).

Library Editing

Chem4Word includes a brand new Library editor, this is activated by the ‘pencil’ icon in the Library pane:

All structures are fully editable. You can also add your own tags to structures. Permissions permitting, you can export or import structures to several different file formats such as CML or molfiles.

You can create your own libraries and distribute them to your friends, co-workers and pupils!

Multiple Libraries.

Chem4Word 3.3 supports multiple libraries. The Library pane now hosts a dropdown where you can select your active library:

You can have as many libraries as you want – disk space permitting, of course! (But who worries about disk space these days?)

You can fully configure your libraries through the Settings dialog: Note that by design the active library can’t be removed. Locked libraries are for system use and can’t be edited.

Secured Libraries

Chem4Word supports fully-secured libraries containing licensed content. We now can host libraries which are licensed on a per-machine and per-individual basis. Our own content will be available to download, such as collections of named chemical reactions! You will need to click on the “Download a Library” button shown above.

We hope you enjoy and make good use of this exciting new functionality!