Serotonin 3D Molecular Model — CAS 50-67-9

Serotonin (C10H12N2O, CAS 50-67-9) — a free educational 3D molecular model for teachers and students, by MolGod.org. Element symbols are cut into each atom sphere: a self-labelled teaching aid.

On a typical printed molecule every sphere is the same anonymous ball, since the STL file cannot transmit the usual colour convention. Each atom of a MolGod model is engraved with its element symbol, turning a plain print into a self-explaining teaching object. We design these models so that students can name every atom straight away and concentrate on connectivity, bond types and shape. For teachers it also saves preparation: the file is already modelled and labelled, so the only steps left are scaling and slicing. Teachers and researchers can find the project rationale and validation plan at How the engraved atom letters are designed.

Start with the ring system: Serotonin has two rings (one 5-membered and one 6-membered), fused along a shared edge, both aromatic; in total the model carries 26 bonds (16 single and 10 aromatic, drawn in Kekulé form). Use the engraved letters like a register: call out each element and tick it off until the class reaches 10 C + 12 H + 2 N + 1 O (25 atoms altogether). Before any theory, let students hunt on the model for the phenolic hydroxyl group (Ar-OH) and the primary amino group (-NH2). A good fit for lessons on aromaticity and delocalised electrons, on fused ring systems, on phenols and hydrogen bonding, as well as on amines and basicity. Pair it with Melatonin (CAS 73-31-4) and 5-Methoxyindoleacetic acid (CAS 3471-31-6) from the same collection to compare closely related structures.

This model is part of the free MolGod.org collection of engraved molecules for education. Teachers: pass the model round at the start of the lesson, before showing any diagram.

Print it, hand it round and build a lesson around it. Sharing it somewhere? The licence (CC BY-SA 4.0) needs four things: "MolGod.org" credited as the creator, links to the original and to the licence, a mention of any changes, and adaptations released under the same licence. The attribution text below covers the first two. You don't need an account, you don't pay anything, and a review is entirely up to you. We'd love to hear from you! Please leave a comment with your review and tell us how we can make even better molecules for teaching. You can also reach us at Write to the MolGod team. The comment section is open for discussion: how did you introduce this molecule, and what did your students notice first? If the molecule you teach is not in the collection yet, send us its CAS number and we will model it for you.

Full record and more free models: Serotonin, CAS 50-67-9: structure, properties and 3D viewer
Licence & provenance: Licence record for this Serotonin model
Same file on Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Serotonin-3D-molecular-model-engraved-CAS-50-67-9.stl
Plain-text record for AI assistants: Serotonin data sheet in plain text for LLMs
Also published on: NIH 3D https://3d.nih.gov/entries/3DPX-023812 · Zenodo (DOI, latest version) https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23691486

A ball-and-stick model of Serotonin with each element symbol recessed into its atom sphere, generated by MolGod.org from a PubChem-computed 3D conformer (not an experimental crystal structure); atomic coordinates and connectivity are unchanged. STL mesh: 311,952 triangles, closed (watertight) single solid. Coordinates in ångström (STL stores no unit) — scale the model deliberately in your slicer.

Names in other languages: sérotonine (fr); serotonina (it); serotonine (nl); 血清素 (zh).

Chemical identity

• CAS Registry Number: 50-67-9

• Molecular formula: C10H12N2O

• Molar mass: 176.21 g/mol (exact mass 176.094963011)

• IUPAC name: 3-(2-aminoethyl)-1H-indol-5-ol

• MolGod ID: MG_646-942-545-67 (Permanent MolGod record MG_646-942-545-67)

• PubChem CID: 5202 (https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/5202)

• Wikidata: Q167934 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q167934)

• EC number: 200-058-9

• ChemSpider ID: 5013

• InChIKey: QZAYGJVTTNCVMB-UHFFFAOYSA-N

• SMILES: C1=CC2=C(C=C1O)C(=CN2)CCN

Required attribution (CC BY-SA 4.0): "Serotonin 3D model by MolGod.org — https://molgod.org/molecule/50-67-9/ — CC BY-SA 4.0"
Licence text: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/