ChemBioDraw Ultra 12.0

CambridgeSoft

Reviewed by Daniel Clark
Clarion University, US

After installing ChemBioDraw Ultra 12.0, I was immediately pleased to see that the layout and graphical appearance of the latest software upgrade is very similar to previous versions of the software.

I soon noticed some of the enhanced features of the drawing tools. One enhancement was the simplified ability to rotate a selection using a handle.

Additionally, the selection feature has also been upgraded to facilitate rapid resizing of the selection with a simple click-and-drag of the appropriate portion of the selection window. Furthermore, this ability to horizontally and/or vertically resize objects has been extended to all of the ’drawing elements’ to enable the customisation of these elements.

I frequently use ChemDraw to illustrate organic reaction mechanisms for my students. With the latest version of ChemBioDraw Ultra 12.0, these mechanisms are much easier to prepare. One can change the curvature and length of an arrow by hovering the cursor over the arrow’s path to reveal its points followed by the clicking-and-dragging of these points to provide the desired arrow. Furthermore, the selection upgrade can also be used on selected arrows for free rotation or for changing sizes. 

Another feature that I have found very useful is the enhanced template section. More important, however, is the ability to create your own custom templates. 

I have been pleased with the latest structure-name interconversion feature. I have also been impressed with the ChemNMR features as it predicts chemical shifts and spectral features and enables the user to change the spectrometer frequency for the prediction.

Overall, I am quite satisfied with my experiences with the latest version of ChemBioDraw. 

For more information see solutions@cambridgesoft.com or visit the website.