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I often refer to some chemicals often in my document (e.g. NH415NO3) and I keep getting line breaks in the middle of the chemical formula (e.g. if NH415NO3 comes at the end of a line, sometimes NH4 and 15NO3 are split onto different lines).

To get around this, and save typing, I created new commands for some chemicals:

\newcommand{\fan}{\mbox{\ch{^{15}NH4NO3}}} % \fan = 15NH4NO3 in mbox
\newcommand{\afn}{\mbox{\ch{NH4^{15}NO3}}} % \afn = NH415NO3 in mbox
\newcommand{\an}{\mbox{\ch{NH4NO3}}} % \an = NH4NO3 in mbox
\newcommand{\fnto}{\mbox{\ch{^{15}N2O}}} % \fnto = 15N2O in mbox

However, when I use my new commands, there's no space after the chemical formula in the text. If I put an extra space in the command, like this:

\newcommand{\afn}{\mbox{\ch{NH4^{15}NO3}} } % \afn = NH415NO3 in mbox

then, I get an extra unwanted space if a full stop comes after the formula in the text.

How can I solve this problem?

Eric Ireland
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    Try loading xspace and add\xspace at the end of the macros. This is a difficulty with macros that have no argument. If it doesn't work, systematically add a pair of braces after each use of the macro in your document. – Bernard Oct 03 '16 at 00:59
  • \mbox shouldn't be necessary in the first place… – cgnieder Oct 03 '16 at 07:29
  • @clemens For some reason, \mbox is necessary in my document, or else NH415NH3 gets split onto two lines if it comes at the end of a line. I'll ask a new question about this specific problem. – Eric Ireland Oct 04 '16 at 01:38
  • You must have an outdated version of chemformula, see my answer to your other question. – cgnieder Oct 04 '16 at 13:41

1 Answers1

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Load xspace and add\xspace at the end of the macros. This is a difficulty with macros that have no argument. If it doesn't work, systematically add a pair of braces after each use of the macro in your document.

Thanks @Bernard!

Eric Ireland
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