Athanor by arbastro
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How to draw haptic bonds

Select the metal and the ring or double bond it binds, then choose Object › Chemistry › Haptic bond. Athanor draws one bond from the center of the ring to the metal and names its hapticity, such as η6.

On a Mac, Ctrl is Cmd.

Steps

  1. Draw the ring and the metal, for example benzene and a Cr atom.

  2. Select both: the metal and the ring or double bond it binds.

  3. Choose Main menu › Object › Chemistry › Haptic bond, or press Ctrl+K and type haptic bond.

  4. Athanor draws one bond from the center of the ring to the metal, and says which it added, such as "Added η6 bond". The two become one structure.

    Benzene bound to Cr through one η6 bond from the ring center.Benzene bound to Cr through one η6 bond from the ring center.

From the library

Organometallics in the library come with their haptic bonds already drawn. Ferrocene, for example, inserts with both cyclopentadienyl rings bound to iron:

Ferrocene: Fe2+ between two cyclopentadienyl rings, each joined by a haptic bond.Ferrocene: Fe2+ between two cyclopentadienyl rings, each joined by a haptic bond.

Atoms, bonds and ringsHow to add charges, radicals and lone pairsPress Q for the Charges tool, pick plus (+), minus (-), lone pair (L), radical, diradical, delta plus or delta minus, and click the atom. clear takes every mark off an atom.

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Last updated Nov 12, 2026