diff --git a/mbuild/compound.py b/mbuild/compound.py
index a7b740085..13e420056 100644
--- a/mbuild/compound.py
+++ b/mbuild/compound.py
@@ -3264,55 +3264,7 @@ def from_parmed(self, structure, coords_only=False, infer_hierarchy=True):
 
     def to_rdkit(self):
         """Create an RDKit RWMol from an mBuild Compound."""
-        rdkit = import_("rdkit")
-        from rdkit import Chem
-        from rdkit.Chem import AllChem
-
-        for particle in self.particles():
-            if particle.element is None:
-                try:
-                    particle._element = element_from_symbol(particle.name)
-                except ElementError:
-                    try:
-                        particle._element = element_from_name(particle.name)
-                    except ElementError:
-                        raise MBuildError(
-                            f"No element assigned to {particle};"
-                            "element could not be"
-                            f"inferred from particle name {particle.name}."
-                            " Cannot perform an energy minimization."
-                        )
-
-        temp_mol = Chem.RWMol()
-        p_dict = {particle: i for i, particle in enumerate(self.particles())}
-
-        bo_dict = {
-            1.0: Chem.BondType.SINGLE,
-            2.0: Chem.BondType.DOUBLE,
-            3.0: Chem.BondType.TRIPLE,
-            1.5: Chem.BondType.AROMATIC,
-            0.0: Chem.BondType.UNSPECIFIED,
-            "default": Chem.BondType.SINGLE,
-        }
-
-        for particle in self.particles():
-            temp_atom = Chem.Atom(particle.element.atomic_number)
-
-            # this next line is necessary to prevent rdkit from adding hydrogens
-            # this will also set the label to be the element with particle index
-            temp_atom.SetProp(
-                "atomLabel", f"{temp_atom.GetSymbol()}:{p_dict[particle]}"
-            )
-
-            temp_mol.AddAtom(temp_atom)
-
-        for bond in self.bonds(return_bond_order=True):
-            bond_indices = (p_dict[bond[0]], p_dict[bond[1]])
-            temp_mol.AddBond(*bond_indices)
-            rdkit_bond = temp_mol.GetBondBetweenAtoms(*bond_indices)
-            rdkit_bond.SetBondType(bo_dict[bond[2]["bo"]])
-
-        return temp_mol
+        return conversion.to_rdkit(self)
 
     def to_parmed(
         self,
diff --git a/mbuild/conversion.py b/mbuild/conversion.py
index 8d06de806..15631b0ce 100644
--- a/mbuild/conversion.py
+++ b/mbuild/conversion.py
@@ -1757,6 +1757,59 @@ def to_pybel(
     return pybelmol
 
 
+def to_rdkit(self):
+    """Create an RDKit RWMol from an mBuild Compound."""
+    rdkit = import_("rdkit")
+    from rdkit import Chem
+    from rdkit.Chem import AllChem
+
+    for particle in self.particles():
+        if particle.element is None:
+            try:
+                particle._element = element_from_symbol(particle.name)
+            except ElementError:
+                try:
+                    particle._element = element_from_name(particle.name)
+                except ElementError:
+                    raise MBuildError(
+                        f"No element assigned to {particle};"
+                        "element could not be"
+                        f"inferred from particle name {particle.name}."
+                        " Cannot perform an energy minimization."
+                    )
+
+    temp_mol = Chem.RWMol()
+    p_dict = {particle: i for i, particle in enumerate(self.particles())}
+
+    bo_dict = {
+        1.0: Chem.BondType.SINGLE,
+        2.0: Chem.BondType.DOUBLE,
+        3.0: Chem.BondType.TRIPLE,
+        1.5: Chem.BondType.AROMATIC,
+        0.0: Chem.BondType.UNSPECIFIED,
+        "default": Chem.BondType.SINGLE,
+    }
+
+    for particle in self.particles():
+        temp_atom = Chem.Atom(particle.element.atomic_number)
+
+        # this next line is necessary to prevent rdkit from adding hydrogens
+        # this will also set the label to be the element with particle index
+        temp_atom.SetProp(
+            "atomLabel", f"{temp_atom.GetSymbol()}:{p_dict[particle]}"
+        )
+
+        temp_mol.AddAtom(temp_atom)
+
+    for bond in self.bonds(return_bond_order=True):
+        bond_indices = (p_dict[bond[0]], p_dict[bond[1]])
+        temp_mol.AddBond(*bond_indices)
+        rdkit_bond = temp_mol.GetBondBetweenAtoms(*bond_indices)
+        rdkit_bond.SetBondType(bo_dict[bond[2]["bo"]])
+
+    return temp_mol
+
+
 def to_smiles(compound, backend="pybel"):
     """Create a SMILES string from an mbuild compound.