Chemotion ELN
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Want to dive right in? Check out the Getting Started section!
The Chemotion ELN has been specifically designed for chemists, taking into account the unique requirements of chemical laboratory work and documentation. It serves as a powerful digitalization tool for chemistry, aimed at creating seamless workflows throughout the reseach data life cycle. Achieving this vision is a collaborative effort involving continuous development, enhancement, and expansion of the ELN.
To get an overview on how and with which tools Chemotion ELN supports you throughout the whole reseach data life cycle, have a look at the sections below and find out more detailed information about the single steps by clicking the link in the respective section.
Data Life Cycle Support
Experiment Design
Chemotion assists in experiment design and planning research by offering embedded structure editors, reading and generating chemical identifiers, and pulling information from relevant databases.
Experiment
During experiments, Chemotion supports researchers with automated calculations, structured documentation, and a concise overview of experimental information.
Data Collection and Processing
For seamless workflows, analytical devices can be connected and directly accessed within the Chemotion ELN. Besides this connection, data from these devices can be automatically transferred, file formats are converted, and metadata is mapped.
Analysis
Analyses can be performed directly in the Chemotion ELN by utilizing one of the embedded spectra editors.
Data Publication
The Chemotion ELN is connected to several data repositories. Incorperated publishing workflows allow for simple and fast publication of research data.
Data Re-Use
Chemotion ELN enables easy sharing of data and entries with collaborators. Additionally, both your own data as well as those of group members can be reused for new experiments.
LabIMotion
In addition to its primary focus on chemistry, the ELN is also utilized in various other disciplines due to its versatile functionality that caters to the needs of scientists operating in interdisciplinary environments. These generic elements are continually being refined and adapted. The latest extension, introduced in November 2023, is LabIMotion, which enables users to incorporate entirely non-chemical functionalities by designing new modules.
Chemotion Introductory Video
A short introduction to the Chemotion ELN as well as the connection to the Chemotion repository is demonstrated in this video:
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Documentation, Information, and Contact
Chemotion ELN and its functionalities are described in various publications (see below). For users, developers, and admins, a documentation is available via the project's website. Chemotion ELN is an Open Source development; the source code is available on GitHub.
Chemotion is the ELN reference instance in NFDI4Chem. The software is developed by several developers at different NFDI4Chem sites. The development started at the Karlsruhe institute of Technology (KIT) as part of a DFG-funded project. The extension of the software was and is further supported by the State Ministry of Baden-Wuerttemberg for Sciences, Research and Arts, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and the German Research Foundation (DFG).
NFDI4Chem offers hands-on workshop and Q&A sessions for Chemotion ELN and the LabIMotion extension. Visit the workshop overview page for more information.
Getting Started
Newcomers
There are various ways for newcomers to begin using Chemotion and get to know the software:
- Check out the Chemotion Docs: instructions on both the Chemotion ELN and the Chemotion Repo
- Check out the official Chemotion Demo Instance.
- Check out the Chemotion Tutorial Videos: familiarize yourself with the user interface and the features
- Attend an online Live Demo & Q&A Session
- Attend a Chemotion ELN Hands-on Workshop
- Sign up for the chemotion mailing list for users and admins to stay up to date
Establishing Chemotion ELN in your Group
- Before you start rolling out Chemotion ELN in your research group, setup a sharing policy. See Sharing is Caring: Guidelines for Sharing in the Electronic Laboratory Notebook (ELN) Chemotion as applied by a Synthesis-oriented Working Group for guidance.
- Install ChemConverter profiles for any file types that need conversion.
- Establish internal processes for data publication, such as approval workflows for groups leads. See also the workflow for publishing to the Chemotion Repo.
- Clearly communicate the above policies and workflows to new group members during the onboarding process.
- Establish clear offboarding policies and workflows to ensure the necessary measures are taken to revoke access and ensure others in the group maintain access, where needed.
- Setup your chemical Inventory for your group and ensure correct access to it. You can import and export chemical lists, as well.
- Setup LabIMotion templates to expand and customize the ELN to fit your needs. You may also visit a LabIMotion Online Hands-on Workshop to familiarize yourself with this feature.
Publications, Sources, and Further Information
- Chemotion ELN: an Open Source electronic lab notebook for chemists in academia
- Chemotion-ELN part 2: adaption of an embedded Ketcher editor to advanced research applications
- CHEMSCANNER: extraction and re-use(ability) of chemical information from common scientific documents containing ChemDraw files
- Chemotion ELN documentation
- Chemotion ELN on Github