Library Guides: CHEM 500 Becoming a Professional Scientist: Substance information

Substance information sources

SciFinder and Reaxys are go to sources for substance information, but information about chemical substances may be found in a wide variety of publications and on many kinds of websites. These sources of information vary in quality, reliability, depth, and level of technicality.

Information Websites

You should always check the information you find at an informational website against one or more reliable sources, such as handbooks or desk references or curated databases. Here are some suggestions for starting points when looking for data and other information about chemical substances.

Wikipedia (check out the entry on atorvastatin) often gets a bad rap, but there is a dedicated community of chemists who maintain information on chemical substances and topics.
Web databases like ChemSpider and PubChem can be good sources of information

Handbooks and Desk References

CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
& more less...
A ready-reference book of chemical and physical data.
ACS Reagent Chemicals, 10th ed.
& more less...
Reagent Chemicals, 10th Edition provides specifications and analytical procedures to ensure the quality of chemicals. Developed by the ACS Committee on Analytical Reagents, the new edition includes general physical properties and analytical uses for all reagent chemicals, over 500 in all as well as thirty-two new reagents and three new classes of standard grade reference materials. Other features include a CAS number index, a separate index for standard-grade reference materials, updated atomic weights, frequently used mathematical equations, complete assay calculations with titer values, a tutorial on how to read a monograph, and detailed tables of contents introducing each section.

Handbook of Organic Chemistry.
Call Number: QD251.2.D430
Includes descriptive properties for 4000 organic compounds. Entries on organic compounds include name, structural formula, formula weight, Beilstein reference, and properties. Includes sections on physical properties, thermodynamic properties and properties of atoms, radicals, and bonds.
The Merck Index
Call Number: RS356.M552
A collection of short entries for compounds of primarily biological or pharmaceutical interest. Entries may include chemical and physical data such as optical rotation, density, and solubility. References to original literature reports are given. Includes CAS Registry Number, common name indexes.
CRC handbook of data on organic compounds by editors, Robert C. Weast, Melvin J. Astle
Call Number: QD257.7.C730 1985
Publication Date: 1985
Alphabetical listing of organic compounds. Beilstein and CAS numbers are given for each compound. Spectra references and structural formulas are listed in separate sections.