Finding Chemical Information

This list was created for the Chemical Literature course offered by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's Chemistry Department and updated May 7th, 2026.

Using the Web for Chemical Information

Web search engines offer a convenient starting point for finding scientific information, but convenience alone is not a reliable measure of quality. Understanding how to evaluate online sources is an essential skill for any student working with chemical or scientific data.

Peer Review and Source Reliability

Credible scientific information typically passes through peer review before publication — a process in which independent experts in the field evaluate a study's methods, data, and conclusions. This vetting process is the foundation of scientific reliability. When you search the open web, however, peer-reviewed material appears alongside content that has not undergone this scrutiny: student projects, informal summaries, commercially motivated pages, and — increasingly — AI-generated text that may appear authoritative but lacks verified sourcing.

A Practical Standard

As a general rule, prioritize sources that are traceable back to the primary scientific literature. If a webpage or resource does not cite original research or a recognized scientific body, treat it with caution. Library databases such as SciFinder, Web of Science, and PubChem provide access to verified chemical information and are strongly preferred over general web searches for academic work.

A Note on Web Impermanence

The web is a dynamic medium. Pages move, are taken down, or are updated without notice. If you locate a useful resource, record the full URL and the date you accessed it — both are required elements in a proper citation. When possible, locate and cite the original published source directly rather than relying on a webpage as your reference.

UTC Lupton Library

• The Lupton Library Homepage
• Chemistry Research Databases and Guides
• UTC Interlibrary Loan

Libraries, Organizations, and Scientific Societies

• American Chemical Society
• British Library (BLL)
• International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC)
• National Library of Medicine
• PhD Portal: PhD Portal is a tool for getting an initial overview of which institutions offer chemistry Ph.D. programs in the U.S., but it may not be comprehensive, and any specific information — deadlines, faculty, funding, requirements — should be verified against the specific institution's official website.
• Royal Society of Chemistry
• Science History Institute: “The Science History Institute collects, preserves, interprets, and shares that past by exploring lesser-known and sometimes overlooked stories from the history of science and technology. And we don’t just mean discoveries made in laboratories. We dive deep into the history of scientific successes and failures, with a focus on expanding knowledge and broadening our understanding of how science and society intersect.”
• WorldCat: WorldCat is a single search interface that simultaneously searches the holdings of thousands of libraries worldwide, including the Library of Congress, CSIRO, CISTI (Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information), Oxford University libraries, and Australian libraries including the National Library of Australia and university libraries.

Finding Chemical Information

• Depth First Article (2007), How to Find Chemical Information on the Internet: Why Open Source, Open Access, and Open Data Matter: A useful article on performing scientific research using the web. Note that this article is nearly 20 years old; specific tools mentioned have evolved, but the core principles remain instructive.
• University of South Carolina Chemistry Research Guide: This guide is useful for learning to find chemical information on the web.
• USC Chemistry Information Literacy Tutorial: An online tutorial covering database searching, web sources, and citation for chemical information.

Articles from Chemical and Medical Journals

• American Chemical Society Journals: Computers in the chemistry department have access to journal articles online. This is a very powerful tool.
• Chemistry Research Database: See UTC Lupton Library above for more information.
• Google Scholar: Use the Advanced Search option to select subject area, year range, keywords, and keyword location. This is a free and powerful tool that sometimes allows access to the full article.
• Journal Abbreviations — CAS Source Index (CASSI): Searchable index of abbreviations for chemical and related journals, maintained by the American Chemical Society.
• Medscape: This requires a free registration. The site has reprints of high-quality articles from prestigious medical journals and is especially good for looking up background information on medical issues.
• SciFinder is the most complete method of searching the primary chemical literature. Register first at https://guides.lib.utc.edu/chemistry and see the SciFinder "Register Here First" option. Then return to that page to use SciFinder after registration is complete.

Scientific Biographies

• Biographical Memoirs - National Academy of Sciences: Published since 1877; updates are available via e-mail.
• Biographical Memoirs of the Fellows of the Royal Society: Obituary Notices (1932–1954) and Biographical Memoirs (1955–present).
• Biographies of Famous Chemists: A collection of biographies for many chemists with multiple links.
• Nobelprize.org: A list of all Nobel Prize winners and information about them.

Databases of Chemical Compounds and Spectra

• American Elements: This site contains a convenient Periodic Table with information on elements and other materials from the website of an advanced materials company.
• BRENDA: The Comprehensive Enzyme Information System: BRENDA is a freely available collection of enzyme functional data.
• ChemSpider: ChemSpider is a free chemical structure database providing text and structure search access to over 100 million structures from hundreds of data sources.
• CAS Common Chemistry: Provides free CAS Registry information for nearly 500,000 chemical substances.
• DIPPR: This site contains physical information and experimental data on over 1,800 pure chemicals; it requires registration, but not payment.
• eMolecules: This site helps search for commercial sources of chemicals.
• Ingentaconnect: A free method of searching for journal articles across thousands of publications. Not as comprehensive as CAS, but useful for locating articles and browsing by subject.
• Landolt-Börnstein / SpringerMaterials: Over 160,000 organic and inorganic compounds described by names, molecular structures, CAS Registry numbers, and other identifiers. Subscription required for full access.
• MilliporeSigma Catalog (formerly Sigma-Aldrich): This site provides chemical information and Safety Data Sheets for MilliporeSigma products.
• NIST WebBook: A large compilation of information on chemical compounds including thermochemical data, IR spectra, mass spectra, UV/Vis spectra, chemical constants, and ionization energies.
• NIST WebBook Spectral Data: Also contains NMR, IR, mass, and UV/Vis spectra for a wide range of compounds.
• Omnexus: Allows searching of datasheets on plastics with literature links. (Formerly IDES: The Plastics Web.)
• Organic Chemistry Portal: Contains links to organic reactions, papers, books, and resources.
• Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases: Lists plants and chemicals with given biological activities. A list of major constituents of foods and botanicals can be quite handy for analytical chemists.
• Protein Data Bank (PDB): Contains a database of the atomic coordinates of structurally characterized proteins.
• PubChem: Provides substance information, compound structures, and bioactivity data for small molecules. Also hosts toxicological data formerly available through TOXNET, including the Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB).
• PubMed/MEDLINE: A free medical and biomedical literature database from the National Library of Medicine. Do not overlook this site for chemical information such as safety and analysis. (Replaces the former Grateful Med interface, which was retired in 2001.)
• Reaxys: A web-based compilation of 200 years of chemical information, journal articles, and research inspired by the Beilstein and Gmelin handbooks. Requires an annual paid license.
• SciFinder-n: The primary interface to the Chemical Abstracts database, with citations to the chemistry literature and patents, compound information, and substructure and reaction searching. Replaces the former STN Easy interface. Requires an institutional license and registration.
• SDBS — Spectral Database for Organic Compounds: IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, mass, Raman, and ESR spectra of organic compounds, searchable by name, formula, CAS Registry number, NMR shifts, and IR and MS peaks. Provided free by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan.

Databases of Physical Properties

• Cambridge Structural Database: A major crystallographic database maintained by the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre, containing crystal structure data for hundreds of thousands of organic and metal-organic compounds.
• Knovel Critical Tables: Gives interactive tables of physical, solvent, and thermodynamic properties. Requires institutional subscription.
• MatWeb: Material Property Data: Properties and manufacturer information for over 88,000 materials.
• NIST Physical Reference Data: A quick reference for fundamental physical constants and properties, maintained by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. (Replaces the former Vanderbilt Science and Engineering Library list of physical constant links, which is no longer available.)
• PoLyInfo Polymer Database: Systematically provides various data required for polymeric material design. Requires a free registration.
• ThermoDex: A University of Texas at Austin index of selected thermodynamic and physical property resources, searchable by compound type and property.
• WolframAlpha: A useful tool for mathematical computations including solutions chemistry.
   

Legal and Regulatory Information

• Food and Drug Administration (FDA): This site is searchable and updated daily. Guidance documents, warning letters, recall notices, drug information, and much more that you might pay for elsewhere are available for free.
• NIH Reporter: Allows high-quality searching of federally funded research. (Replaces the former CRISP database.)
• National Toxicology Program: Searchable database detailing results of chemical testing for carcinogenic and other toxic effects.
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA): Numerous links for operating safely in the workplace or laboratory.
• U.S. Federal Agency Directory: An extensive list with links to all federal departments and agencies.

Safety and Hazardous Chemicals/Reactions

• EPA - United States Environmental Protection Agency.
• ILPI Safety Data Sheet Resource: Provides a comprehensive index of Safety Data Sheet sources for hazardous chemicals, along with related safety information.
• OSHA - Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
• PubChem — Hazardous Substances Data: Hosts toxicological and hazardous substance data formerly available through TOXNET, which was retired by the National Library of Medicine in December 2019. Includes data from the Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) and other sources.
• Safety and SDS information.

Patents/Trademarks

• Canadian Intellectual Property Office: Canadian patent database allows searches in French or English. It is best to do both, since patents can be submitted in either language and are not cross-indexed.
• European Patent Office: This European Patent Office site has links to the patent offices of many countries, not just European ones. It also has links to other useful sites.
• Japan Patent Office / J-PlatPat: The Japan Patent Office English-language site provides access to J-PlatPat (Japan Platform for Patent Information), a free searchable database of Japanese patents, utility models, designs, and trademarks. English abstracts are available and are generally more detailed than those of English-speaking countries, often including structural images. Search directly via J-PlatPat.
• United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO): Search not just by terms, but also inventor name, company assigned, product class, patent number, and more.