CHT(1)

✨ CHT(1) — like, the chemtool drawing analyzer, bestie ✨

okay so picture this: you've got a cht situation and you need answers. this is the manual page for cht, from the User commands section of the manual. let's get into it 💅

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🎀 NAME 🎀

cht — chemtool drawings analyzer. that's it, that's the whole name, no cap.

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

cht [options] filename.cht

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

cht is a commandline tool that derives the sum formula and molecular mass of the molecule depicted in a chemtool drawing file. it's giving calculator energy. and it's also available from within chemtool itself, so you can calculate these data for the current structure or for a marked fragment of it. 🫶

so, which elements does cht currently recognize? get ready, it's a whole list, and we're listing every single one because details matter:

C, H, O, N, P, S, Si, B, Br, Cl, F, I, Al, As, Ba, Be, Bi, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Fe, Ga, Ge, In, K, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sb, Sc, Se, Sn, Sr, Te, Ti, Tl, V, Zn

which is, and i quote, all main group elements except the noble gases, and the first row of transition metals. slay.

and the abbreviations it knows? also a whole list, brace yourself:

Ac, Ade, Bn, Bu, iBu, tBu, Bz, BOC, Cyt, CE, DBAM, DMAM, DMTr, Et, Gua, Me, Ms, MOC, MOM, MMTr, Ph, Pr, iPr, Tf, Thy, Tol, Tr, Ts, TBDMS, TBDPS, TMS, TMTr, Ura, Z.

it can handle two levels of parentheses, bestie. two. levels. like:

P[OCH(CH_3)_2]_3

that's the example, literally verbatim, don't @ me. 💖

⚠️ okay important: when cht detects any duplicate (overlapping) bonds in the drawing file, it will prepend an exclamation mark to the calculated (and likely wrong) sum formula. the exclamation mark is basically it going "girl i tried". 😭

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💜 OPTIONS 💜

cht understands the following options:

• -h, --help — displays brief help and list of options. the classic.
• -e, --exact — calculate exact mass for MS. fancy.
• -v, --verbose — be verbose.
• -d, --debug — be extremely verbose. main character energy.

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💀 BUGS 💀

ngl, there are some things to know. cht can misinterpret molecules that contain the 'aromatic ring' symbol, because it uses a fixed search radius to identify the aromatic system that it denotes. it also does not handle the 'partial double bond'. so you should avoid these two in drawings that you intend to use with cht. avoiding them is the vibe check. 🙈

a label that is offset from the corresponding bond end by more than five pixels is not recognized — so the default CH2 or CH3 group enters the calculation in its place. five pixels. that's the limit. iconic but also stressful. 😭

and in general: one should check the plausibility of the generated sum formula wherever possible. fr fr, always double-check. 🔥

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• chemtool(1)

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

Radek Liboska

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and that's a wrap, bestie 🎀 this page is from version 1.6.13, dated June 17, 2001 — vintage, honestly. periodt. 💅✨