eChem is Dead. Long live Molview.org!

The eChem applet, which was hosted on this site for many years, has been laid to rest. It was a victim of Java security issues. The applet was originally produced at the University of Michigan, but was never quite completed. None-the-less, I found it useful enough to resurrect it and host it here. However, the applet was "unsigned", and current releases of Java resist running unsigned applets due to very real security concerns. I opted to retire the applet rather than have people question why something at my site was prompting security warnings in their web browser.

The good news is that there is now a far superior option, a web-based drawing and viewing tool called Molview.org. Molview.org is not my work, as one can tell by noting it's advanced coding and beautiful rendering. It does far more than eChem every could. Play around with it and I think you will agree. There are side-by-side panels for drawing and 3-d viewing of the things that you draw. The tools include exporting images of the 2-d and 3-d structures you draw. Additionally, it is an HTML5/Javascript site, so it will run on smart phones and tablets. I hope that the site works as well for you as it does for me. My classes will use it in Chemistry as we venture into covalent bonding, Lewis structures, polymers, and more.