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What software is used to create skeletal formula diagrams, create 3D models and whatnot? For example, on Wikipedia pages for molecules, you see standard 3D models and skeletal models which I assume are made with certain chemistry programs rather than some widespread ones.

Also, what programs are used to write chemistry papers? I know languages like LaTeX are used for mathematics and I can see you could definitely write a chemistry paper using such a program; I am curious to what actual chemists use.

Joshua Farrell
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  • molden, jackal (old, good for b/w crystal structures and such), hyperchem, avogadro, crystalmaker, their own stuff –  Jul 04 '17 at 08:21
  • There are several software solutions for each problem you mentioned as well as to other ones. If you are doing Chemical research at a university/in a lab, many of this software are available through campus licenses, so check those first. – Greg Jul 04 '17 at 09:23
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    @JoshuaFarrell please let us know a) what operating system you are using; b) are you affiliated with a university or any other institution that may have licences available. The things are (sadly), many software pieces chemists need cost ridiculous amount of money. Please leave a note, if you prefer FOSS. – andselisk Jul 04 '17 at 09:23
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    @Joshua Farell Regarding the "skeletal representation" in wikipedia you refer to, this in part is partially due to a listing of software (at least, in principle) available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecule_editor . More importantly, however, regarding consistency of the representations, similar to publishers where you submit an article to a journal, wikipedia has a dedicated set of guidelines how to draw molecules, e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Chemistry/Structure_drawing – Buttonwood Jul 04 '17 at 11:19
  • Chemdraw/Marvin Sketch (Draw structures), Kaleidagraph (Easy graphing program, I like it far more than excel), VESTA (Visualize X-Ray Diffraction data/ others), Gaussian/VASP/QE/Calypso (Computational chemistry packages, some are useful for NMR predictions, among other things), Python (Makes more complicated data manipulation a breeze). Everyone will have a different toolkit. I generally use Word to write papers, as Chemdraw has word plugins that are nice. – MadisonCooper Jul 04 '17 at 11:45
  • @andselisk I am using a Macintosh so OSX and next year I will be affiliated with a university but for mathematics – Joshua Farrell Jul 04 '17 at 14:02
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    @JoshuaFarrell Oh. For macOS you might want to have a look at http://www.macinchem.org/, I guess, unless you need something really specific. Genarally, MarvinSketch for 2D structures and Avogadro for 3D structures are a good start. Regarding LaTeX, I use it whenever possible, if you really want, you can check out my preamble to get an idea what packages might come in handy. – andselisk Jul 04 '17 at 14:15
  • https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/54548/software-for-visualization-of-3d-models-of-chemical-structures-with-atomic-orbit?rq=1 https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/246/a-chemdrawing-software?rq=1 – Mithoron Jul 04 '17 at 14:46

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