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MolPrime is a lightweight app that combines drawing capabilities from MMDS with various analysis and network connectivity options. |
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Overview
MolPrime is an app which provides the powerful drawing capabilities of the Mobile Molecular DataSheet within a much less complex app. MolPrime is available for free and is ad-supported, while the closely related product, MolPrime+, is available for a fee, and introduces additional functionality.
The app workflow is very straightforward: draw, examine, launch. Molecular structures can be drawn from scratch using the inbuilt structure editor, or a recently used structure can be used as a starting point. Once the structure is drawn, some basic properties can be examined, and the molecule can be used as a launching pad for other services: sending by email, copying graphics to the clipboard, searching with Mobile Reagents or ChemSpider, or opening with MMDS.
MolPrime is free to download, and is supported by advertising.
The app is defined by 4 panels, which are described in the following sections.
Recent
When MolPrime starts, the Recent panel is shown. This lists several recently edited structures - or, if the app has not yet been used very much, some arbitrarily interesting molecules.
To start editing a new molecule using a recent molecule as a starting point, tap on it. To draw a new molecule from scratch, instead hit the New button.
Draw
Structure drawing is provided via the embedded structure editor:
The process of drawing a molecule is described elsewhere: Introduction to Drawing (iPhone). The drawing capabilities are just as advanced as the fully featured editor, except that some of the configuration options are not available, e.g. custom structure templates.
Properties
Some simple properties can be calculated for the structure currently under consideration, in this case aspirin:
If there is something evidently wrong with the molecule, underneath the list of calculated properties is shown a picture of the structure, with problem areas highlighted in red. For example, N-methyl pyridinium drawn without the cation:
Launch
The Launch panel is where the current molecular structure can be used. The main display shows the molecule in the centre, and an icon for each of the possibilities:
Select the icon of interest, then tap the Launch button on the top right to carry out the operation.
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An outgoing email will be composed, which will be automatically populated with information about the structure, including:
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An image of the molecular structure will be placed onto the clipboard. Any other app on the device that is capable of reading images from the clipboard can make use of this, e.g. Pages or Keynote. |
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If the Mobile Reagents app is installed, it will be opened and instructed to perform a substructure search for the current structure. If the app is not installed, the user will be prompted to visit the iTunes AppStore, to download it for free. |
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The ChemSpider service will be invoked, using the currently drawn structure as the search criterion. If the structure is found, it will be displayed within the browser. |
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The current structure will be opened using the Mobile Molecular DataSheet or, if it is not installed, an option will be presented to visit the iTunes AppStore. |
Summary
MolPrime is a convenient and lightweight technology sampler app, which demonstrates some of the sophisticated cheminformatics capabilities that are possible on mobile devices. With a gentler learning curve and no cost, it is an ideal way to get into mobile chemistry.
See Also
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| © 2010-2011 Molecular Materials Informatics Inc. All rights reserved. Last modified 01-Jul-2011 |
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