Editing Molecule editor (section)

{{short description|Computer program used to create and modify simulated representations of molecular structures}}
A notable '''molecule editor''' is a [[computer program]] for creating and modifying representations of [[chemical structure]]s.<!-- Only for programs/packages with their own article -->

Molecule editors can manipulate chemical structure representations in either a simulated [[Plane (mathematics)|two-dimensional space]] or [[three-dimensional space]], via [[2D computer graphics]] or [[3D computer graphics]], respectively. Two-dimensional output is used as illustrations or to query [[chemical database]]s. Three-dimensional output is used to build molecular models, usually as part of [[molecular modelling]] software packages.

Database molecular editors such as Leatherface,<ref>{{cite book|doi=10.1002/3527603743.ch11|chapter=Structure Modification in Chemical Databases|title=Chemoinformatics in Drug Discovery|pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9783527307531_0/page/271 271–285]|series=Methods and Principles in Medicinal Chemistry|year=2005|last1=Kenny|first1=Peter W.|last2=Sadowski|first2=Jens|isbn=9783527307531|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9783527307531_0/page/271}}</ref> RECAP,<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1021/ci970429i|pmid=9611787|title=RECAP-Retrosynthetic Combinatorial Analysis Procedure: A Powerful New Technique for Identifying Privileged Molecular Fragments with Useful Applications in Combinatorial Chemistry|journal=Journal of Chemical Information and Computer Sciences|volume=38|issue=3|pages=511–522|year=1998|last1=Lewell|first1=Xiao Qing|last2=Judd|first2=Duncan B.|last3=Watson|first3=Stephen P.|last4=Hann|first4=Michael M.}}</ref> and Molecule Slicer<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1021/jm030267j|pmid=14695836|title=Characteristic Physical Properties and Structural Fragments of Marketed Oral Drugs|journal=Journal of Medicinal Chemistry|volume=47|pages=224–232|year=2004|last1=Vieth|first1=Michal|last2=Siegel|first2=Miles G.|last3=Higgs|first3=Richard E.|last4=Watson|first4=Ian A.|last5=Robertson|first5=Daniel H.|last6=Savin|first6=Kenneth A.|last7=Durst|first7=Gregory L.|last8=Hipskind|first8=Philip A.|issue=1}}</ref> allow large numbers of molecules to be modified automatically according to rules such as 'deprotonate carboxylic acids' or 'break exocyclic bonds' that can be specified by a user.

Molecule editors typically support reading and writing at least one [[file format]] or [[line notation]]. Examples of each include [[Molfile]] and [[simplified molecular input line entry specification]] (SMILES), respectively.

Files generated by molecule editors can be displayed by [[molecular graphics]] tools.