Welcome to the AktivGrid tutorial!
This article will walk you through making several structures on the AktivGrid for organic compounds. If they haven't, you may want to ask your instructor to assign the identical tutorial for your course. That version will allow you to follow along with these steps directly.
Tutorial Contents
If you'd like to skip to a specific part of the tutorial, please use the following links.
Drawing Skeletal Carbon Chains
Drawing Single or Double Bonds
Beginning your Drawing
To begin drawing any structure, you may need to select the drawing area. For some questions there may be multiple drawing spaces, so be sure to select the correct drawing area.
Others may have example structures. If there is an example, clicking the image will zoom in on the structure.
Drawing Skeletal Carbon Chains
Click or tap on grid lines to create bond lines. This will create simple skeletal structures. You can also use the Undo, Reset and Remove buttons if you make mistakes in your drawing. Select the Submit button once your structure is complete.
You can begin your drawing anywhere on the grid. If you need to move the view, tap and drag the screen. Plus and Minus indicators can also be used to zoom in and out as needed.
Drawing Single or Double Bonds
Once you've drawn a skeletal structure, you can adjust single line bonds to be double or triple bonds. This can be done by selecting the bond by clicking on it. Clicking a second time or third will cycle to a double then triple bond. Bond options will also show up in the Atoms, Bonds and Rings options.
Other Atoms
To add Carbon Oxygen double bonds, Nitrogen, Halogen and other bonds with different atoms you will need to use the same Atoms, Bonds and Rings menu. Options will populate on this menu based on what bond you have selected. If you do not see the option you need, make sure you have selected the correct bond.
Wedges and Dashes
Our system is also able to create wedge and dash bonds. These bonds are to represent three dimensional orientation of the structure you are drawing. In questions where these are needed, they will show up as you click on the same bond multiple times along with single and double bonds. They will also show up on the Atoms, Bonds, and Rings. If you need a functional group on a wedge or dash bond, you can pick the functional group first or after selecting the wedge or dash.
Carbon Rings
Six Membered Rings
To add a six-membered ring, you can either draw along the hexagon grid or use the suggestion option that correlates to this ring size among those in the Atoms, Bonds and Rings. There may be options for different orientations of the ring compared to the bond you have selected when picking from the menu. You can then continue drawing off of the structure as needed.
Five Membered Rings or other Non-Six-Membered Rings
To draw a five or other ring that doesn't have six members, you will need to draw at least one line on the grid and then select the option from the Atoms, Bonds and Rings menu. Don't forget to pick the correct orientation compared to your drawn bond, if needed.
When drawing with a ring that is different from the hexagon grid, the rest of the grid will disappear and you will only see connection points for bonds off of your current structure. You will still be able to cycle through bond types by clicking on bonds or use the suggestions in this mode as before.
Formal Charge and Lone Pairs
To add a formal charge and/or lone pair of electrons to an atom on your structure, select the “Charges and Lone Pairs” menu option at the bottom of the screen, then select the appropriate bonding patterns from the options provided to you. You may need to draw the correct bond and/or functional group first before applying the charges. All AktivGrid questions will explicitly state if the use of lone pairs are required for that question.
You're all set! As always, feel free to reach out to support@aktiv.com with any questions.