Step-by-step reaction mechanisms, drawn as skeletal structures with the arrow-pushing that explains why the product forms — not just what the product is. Explore a mechanism, then test yourself in Quiz.
Bring in your own structure
Import a structure
Works with SMILES strings and MDL/SDF molfiles — the open, text-based formats ChemDraw can export to
(File → Save As → MDL Molfile (*.mol)). Upload one structure, or several at once if you're looking at a
multi-reactant setup — the detector below scans functional groups across everything loaded and suggests matching
mechanisms from this library. A raw ChemDraw .cdx file is a proprietary binary format that can't be parsed
by a browser script, and a photo of a hand-drawn structure needs real image recognition, which this page can't do
either. For either of those, paste or upload the structure directly into your chat with Claude — vision can read a
photo of a hand-drawn structure directly, and I can help turn it into SMILES or a mechanism entry.
Detected functional groups
Most likely reaction
Mechanism applied to your uploaded structures
The real atoms from what you loaded, with the actual arrow-pushing overlaid — not the
library's generic placeholder version. Currently supported for simple displacement reactions (SN2, Williamson
ether synthesis) where the reactive atoms can be pinpointed with confidence.
Other possible reaction types
Heuristic functional-group matching against this library's 345 mechanisms, ranked by an
affinity score — not a general reaction-outcome predictor. Treat these as starting points to investigate, not a
definitive answer.
← swipe the drawing sideways →
Abbreviations & terms in this step
curved arrow = movement of an electron pairelectron-rich site (nucleophile / lone pair)electron-poor site (electrophile): lone pair (dots)δ⁺ δ⁻ partial charges