Zusammen

Not all synthetic procedures are created equal. Some have been reproduced multiple times in several laboratories - other may have never been reproduced. Each brings with it a different level of confidence - and potential investment. Today's stop on our continuing tour of free chemistry databases and services on the Web takes us to Organic Syntheses, organic chemistry's premier source for well-tested synthetic procedures.

From the about page:

Since 1921, Organic Syntheses has provided the chemistry community with annual collections of detailed, reliable, and carefully checked procedures for the synthesis of organic compounds. Some procedures describe practical methods for the preparation of specific compounds of interest, while other procedures illustrate important synthetic methods with general utility. Each procedure is written in considerably more detail as compared to typical experimental procedures in other journals, and each reaction and all characterization data has been carefully "checked" for reproducibility in the laboratory of a member of the Board of Editors.

For the unfamiliar, Organic Syntheses is organized around the concept of the reaction of a single set of reagents typically producing a single product. This contrasts with other reaction databases that may contain information about a reactions involving many related compounds.

Organic Syntheses offers two ways to access its collection of articles: searching and browsing.

Articles can be searched by keyword, author, molecular formula, CAS Registry number, and by volume and page number. The structures of reagents and products can be searched using a plugin.

Articles can be browsed by annual volume, collective volume, or by the most recently accepted articles that don't yet appear in a volume.

Each article is laid out similarly to the print version. For those inclined to print, PDFs for each article can be downloaded.

Although the content of the Organic Syntheses website is first-rate, the site itself has some room for improvement. For example, to use the structure drawing feature required: (1) a ten minute download; (2) a five minute installation; and (3) a system reboot. Browsing articles is not as straightforward as it should be. Many users will want to browse the entire article archive, but the search interface requires knowing either the annual or collective volume in which to browse. The recently-accepted articles section lacks an RSS feed, making it difficult keep up-to-date with new articles. Unlike most Web search forms, the Organic Syntheses site doesn't begin searching when the return key is pressed, but requires the user to look to the top of the page and notice the gray search button that needs to be pressed.

The site as a whole unfortunately presents many more of these departures from established Web conventions, including the unnecessary use of popups and frames.

Nevertheless, for the common case in which the volume and page of an article is known and a chemist simply wants the article, the Organic Syntheses site works well.

Kudos

• High-quality content in the area of synthetic organic chemistry.
• Free of charge.
• Substances appearing in other articles are hyperlinked.

Ideas for Improvement

• Eliminate frames and popups that hinder navigation.
• Add an RSS feed for new articles.
• Replace the browser structure editor plug-in with an installation-free, platform independent structure editor.
• Make entire collection of articles browsable using a single interface.
• Remove News Items section(s) from front page (the last update was made in 2006 for one and 2007 for the other) - or ensure that they actually contains news.
• A page dedicated to browsing both reagents and products.