BKChem is an open source 2D molecule editor written in Python. It has a wealth of features but is simple to use.
Key Features
- Drawing:
- Bond-by-bond drawing.
- Bond lenght and angle restrictions to assist with the drawing.
- Ready to use templates of common rings.
- Ability to expand common groups from abbreviated to structural form.
- Support for linear formulas (such as -CH2CH(COOCH3)2).
- Radicals, charges…
- Arrows (several types – normal, retro, equilibrium, etc).
- Rich text.
- Color support.
- Simple vector graphics (rectangles, circles, polygons etc).
- Editing:
- Unlimited undo and redo capabilities.
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- Aligning.
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- Scaling.
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- Rotation (2D, 3D).
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- Aligning of molecules so that particular bond is horizontal/vertical.
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- Rotation of molecular fragments around bonds (conformation changes).
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- Definition of personal preferred drawing style (bond lengths, widths, colors…).
- Export:
- SVG (native data are transparently embedded into SVG file), OpenOffice Draw format, ODF (OpenOffice 2.0) format, Encapsulated PostScript, and PDF.
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- Basic support for both CML1 and CML2.
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- Molfiles.
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- Generation of SMILES.
- Import:
- Basic support for both CML1 and CML2.
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- Molfiles.
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- SMILES (subset).
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- INChI (subset).
- Localization support (currently English, French, Czech, Polish, German and Traditional Chinese translations are available).
- XML based.
- Validity checking of drawn structures.
- Support for user written plugins. A BKChem plugin in general consists of two main parts: a short XML file describing the plugin, and a Python script that represents the actual code.
- Support for user written batch scripts.
- Searching for BKChem files containing specified molecules or molecule fragment.
Website: bkchem.zirael.org
Support:
Developer: Beda Kosata
License: GNU General Public License v2.0
BKChem is written in Python. Learn Python with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
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Read our verdict in the software roundup.
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