How to ...

• draw a simple polymer

  1. Draw the structure that forms the polymer.

  2. Click the Group tool on the toolbar, and select the structure. Leave out the atoms that should be replaced by * (star atoms).

  3. In the "Create Group" dialog window choose the appropriate type from the "Type" list.

  4. Set the polymer repeat pattern if necessary.

  5. Click OK. The star atoms * will be added automatically.

• draw a ladder-type polymer

  1. Draw the structure that forms the polymer.

  2. Click the Group tool on the toolbar, and select the structure. Leave out the atoms that should be replaced by * (star atoms).

  3. In the "Create Group" dialog window choose the "SRU polymer" type from the "Type" list.

  4. Set the polymer repeat pattern if necessary.

  5. Click OK. The star atoms ("*") will be added automatically.

  6. To create a bracket that crosses two bonds select the two brackets each crossing a bond and click Merge Brackets in the contextual menu.

• draw a copolymer

  1. Create the components to form the copolymer.

  2. Click the Group tool on the toolbar then select the components to be included.

  3. In the "Create Group" dialog window choose the type ("Copolymer (co)", "Copolymer, alternating (alt)", "Copolymer, block (blk)" or "Copolymer, statistical (stat)") from the "Type" list.

  4. Click OK.

• change the type of a polymer

  1. Hover the mouse over the group.

  2. Choose "Edit Group" from the contextual menu (right mouse click on the selected mixture).

  3. Change the type of the polymer.

  4. Click OK.

• add a new subpolymer to a copolymer

  1. Draw the subpolymer to add outside of the bracket.

  2. Drag one part of the bracket to include the new subpolymer. The new molecule should be marked with blue circles when you hover the mouse cursor over it.

• delete a subgroup from a copolymer

  1. Select the subpolymer to delete.

  2. Press the Delete button on your keyboard or with the Erase tool.