Summary, for end-users

If you use a Mac and ChemDraw, now is the time to learn the procedure to copy-and-paste ChemDraw elements for round-trip editing with MS Office 2016 documents. The changed occurred after Microsoft Office 2011 (Mac) and staying with that version of Office is not a viable long-term solution.

Here is the procedure to copy a ChemDraw object into MS Office 2016's Word or PowerPoint applications:

• Step one is unchanged: copy (⌘+C).
• Step two has changed: Paste as PDF (⌘+Control+V), instead of drag and drop or a simple paste, into an Office 2016 document.

Even with the release of ChemDraw version 16 from PerkinElmer Informatics, round trip editing using the common drag and drop method still does not work with Office 2016 (although compatibility with Office 2011 continues). With the end of the support lifecycle for Office 2011 on 10/10/2017, it may no longer be possible to install Office 2011 on newer versions of macOS. There is currently a workaround for this problem which is using copy (⌘+C) and Paste as PDF (⌘+Control+V) instead of drag and drop in Office 2016.  

• http://blogs.cornell.edu/chemit/2017/08/22/macs-office-and-chemdraw-issue/

Prior cautions from Chemistry IT:

• http://it.chem.cornell.edu/2016/12/19/new-chemdraw-16-mac-roundtrip-editing/
   
• http://it.chem.cornell.edu/2015/10/30/chemit-flash-2015-10/

What you need to know: Mac's MS Office and ChemDraw

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