ISIS/Draw - Tutorial

Note:
This tutorial will be greatly extended and enhanced in the near future. In the meanwhile, besides following this tutorial, you might also want to take a look at the far more elaborate ISIS/Draw tutorial at the Chemical Database Service at Daresbury.

Let's first start with showing the startup-screen:

fig 1. Startup-screen

Now let's try to make a nice little molecule:

Now we start with the ring on the left hand.

• Pick the six-membered ring-icon from the top of the screen: , and place it on the drawing-screen.
  
• Next, pick the five-membered ring-icon from the top of the screen: , and click on the rightmost bond of the six-membered ring, to get the structure as in figure 2.
  
  fig.2

• After we have done this, we go add the phenyl-groups. But first we have to add the bond that's pointing toward us. We do this by selecting the next icon, , on the left hand of the screen. Then you click and hold the left mouse button on the rightmost atom on the five-membered ring, and drag the cursor to the desired end-position. You can then release the button and the bond is drawn.
  Then, we are ready to add the phenyl groups. We do this by selecting the benzyl-icon ( ) from the top of the screen, and clicking twice on the newly formed atom. You now should have a structure like that in figure 3.
  
  fig.3

• Now we have only two minor things left to do. First we go add the double bond in the leftmost ring. To do this, you select the double-bond-icon on the lefthand screen: , and click on the leftmost bond of the six-membered ring.
• Then we only have to rename the lowest common aton of the five- and sex-membered ring to the N-type atom. You can do that by selecting the change-atom-type icon: , and then double click on the lowest common atom. Here a small menu pops up, and you can change the atom type by clicking on the C and changing it to N. (And then click OK) Note that you can also change some other things here, like charges, valences, isotopes etc...

Next, we try to draw a reaction. First clear out the drawing area: Edit, Select all and then Edit, Cut.
After you've done that, we try to make the next reaction (figure 4):

fig.4

• Now first draw all the components (that shouldn't be too difficult by now...)
• Then you can select the 'select' button: . Then click the left mouse-button and drag the box around the three structures. Watch a 'A', 'B' and a 'C' appearing. They should be in the right order, otherwise try selecting the structures again (The first structure that 'lights up' is the one that will get the 'A').
• After you've selected the structures, we can start 'make' the reaction. To do this select Chem from the menu, and then choose Reaction....
  Here you see that is says: A --> B + C
  It should be A + B --> C, so you click on the + between the B and the C to let it become an arrow. (Then it should say A + B --> C). Then type OK.
• When you are done, you see in the drawing window the plus and the arrow appearing in the right places.

Hereby the ISIS/Draw tutorial is concluded.
ISIS/Draw has got a very good help in the upperright corner of the screen. Here you can look for more complex functions, and some more examples you can work through. The help is very clearly written.

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Last updated on August 17, 1998