The CDX file extension is primarily associated with ChemDraw, a widely used and industry-standard software application for drawing chemical structures, reactions, and biological pathways. CDX stands for ChemDraw XML or ChemDraw Binary Interchange Format, though it typically refers to the proprietary binary file format used by PerkinElmer Informatics to store chemical drawing data. These files contain comprehensive information regarding molecular geometry, atom connectivity, chemical bonds, stereochemistry, and associated text or graphical annotations. Because chemistry requires precise representation of molecules, CDX files ensure that complex structural data, reaction stoichiometry, and laboratory notebook information are preserved accurately without losing formatting or chemical properties. They are extensively utilized by organic chemists, researchers, educators, and pharmaceutical professionals to document research, publish academic papers, and share molecular models across different scientific platforms and databases. While primarily a proprietary format, many chemical informatics tools and computational software packages can interpret or convert CDX files into other standard formats for analysis and visualization.