ACD/Labs’ Educational Software for Drawing Chemical Structures Achieves New Milestone

Over 2.5 million users have downloaded ChemSketch Freeware, the academic chemical drawing software from ACD/Labs

Toronto, CANADA (April 9, 2024)—ACD/Labs, an informatics company that develops and commercializes software in support of digitalized R&D, today announced that ChemSketch Freeware has been downloaded by over 2.5 million users worldwide.

This free version of ChemSketch, intended for academic and personal use, has been available and regularly updated for over 25 years. Students, academics, and scientists use ChemSketch to learn, teach, and share their work via chemical structures, reactions, schemes, and diagrams. Users can also generate names for small molecules, calculate molecular properties for input to digital twins, compose professional reports, create publication-ready figures, and search web-based databases.

“From the company’s early days, 30 years ago, we have been passionate about enabling digital chemistry, and creating virtual representation of molecular substances. This includes electronic drawings and IUPAC names, physicochemical properties such as pK_a, logP, logD, and spectral characteristics such as NMR or MS spectra,” said Daria Thorp, President of ACD/Labs. “ChemSketch is foundational to enabling this digital representation, and we have been proud to share this capability with students learning science and engaging in research. This software is a part of many solutions that support industrial R&D workflows, as well as digital transformation and AI/ML efforts.”

Today, in the age of AI and machine learning, it is vital that students learn the fundamentals of digital chemistry. Tools like ChemSketch provide the foundational technological skills needed in fields such as chemical engineering, pharmaceuticals, and environmental sciences. This software enhances a student’s understanding of complex chemical concepts and prepares them for success.

In addition to ChemSketch, ACD/Labs’ broader portfolio supports the wider needs of academia. For three decades, ACD/Labs software has been used by educators to teach scientific concepts such as chemical nomenclature, analytical chemistry, and physicochemical properties.

Beyond its academic uses, the commercial version of ChemSketch is also broadly used across industry. “We are continually advancing the software to meet the needs of all scientists,” said Andrey Yerin, the project leader for chemical nomenclature and structure products at ACD/Labs. “Recent updates have included the ability to query CAS SciFinderⁿ from within ChemSketch, representing complex chemical objects such as antibodies or nanoparticles as graphical objects for knowledge management, as well as additional supported file formats. Pharmaceutical and chemical companies are choosing ChemSketch because it offers the features they need at a competitive price.”

Access ACD/Labs resources for students, educators, and academic researchers at www.acdlabs.com/academia/.

About ACD/Labs

ACD/Labs is a leading provider of scientific software, aiding decision-making and digital transformation in chemical and pharmaceutical R&D.

Our science-centric solutions offer harmonized, AI-ready analytical, structural, and molecular information, with FAIR-compliance. Our cloud-enabled technologies enable proliferation of chemically intelligent knowledge and workflow automation.

For 30 years, we have partnered with global organizations to enhance productivity and accelerate scientific innovation. For more information, please visit www.acdlabs.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.