Methyl Groups

Hi all,





I am trying to draw simple methyl groups -CH3. Each time I try to draw them I get CH4. I tried toggling the 'explicit hydrogens' button but now I have to draw my hydrogens out the long way.





Any advice for a newbie?





Thanks!

The topic was moved to the Structure editing forum.

Can anyone help me draw a CH3 molecule? I keep getting CH4 when I select the carbon.





Thank you!

You can draw a methyl group in several ways in Marvin, but the easiest way definitely is to just type "me". If your pointer is over an empty space of the canvas, upon typing "me" the Me group is put 'in hand', and then it moves with the mouse, and when you click somewhere it is placed down: If you click to an empty space on the canvas, Me is placed separately, but if you click on an atom (that has maximum one connection to other atoms), Me replaces this atom. Me is an abbreviated group, having a single attachment point, and can be expanded to see the real structure behind it (which is just a single carbon in this case); if it is placed on the canvas separately, the expanded form shows a carbon atom with an asterisk, where the asterisk shows the presence of the attachment point; if it is placed over an atom with a single connection, the carbon atom becomes connected through this connection point (and the asterisk disappears). One more thing: if you start typing with the mouse pointer already over an atom with a single connection, the atom is immediately changed to the abbreviated group.





Please note that there are many more abbreviated groups in the dictionary of Marvin, and all of them can be inserted by typing (try e.g. Et an Ph, or even Boc an Tos), or using the Insert > Groups menu option. In addition, you can create your own abbreviated groups, by drawing the substructure, adding the attachment point, and then adding the group to the MyTemplates (e.g. by drag&dropping it to the MyTemplates toolbar (on the bottom of the window)).

If you want to draw a methyl radical (CH₃•), draw methane (CH₄), then right-click (Mac users control-click) on the C atom and choose Radical -> Monovalent. If you want to draw methyl cation or anion (⁺CH₃ or ^–CH₃), draw methane, press the + or - button, and click on the C atom. (Or you can just put the mouse over the C atom and type + or -.)





If you type Me, then click on the canvas, you get the methyl shortcut group. It is not a molecule per se, but a group of atoms that should be attached to another atom. Think of it as a sentence fragment that has meaning only if it is part of a larger sentence.





If you really want just CH₃ on the canvas without any chemical meaning associated with it, use a Text box. But it won't have any chemical meaning; Marvin will consider it to be just a random collection of characters.