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Databases of synthetic organic procedures are extremely valuable in the practice of chemical research. One such database is ChemSynthesis , today's stop on our continuing survey of free chemistry databases and services on the Web. From the about page:

We created a freely accessible database of chemicals with synthesis references that are not limited to a few journals. Along with these synthesis references our database also contains physical properties for the listed substances.

There are currently more than 40,000 compounds and more than 45,000 synthesis references in the database.

Our database will be updated periodically. A next update version is planned for summer 2009. Up to 50,000 new structures including their physical and chemical properties and synthesis references will be available.

ChemSynthesis is organized around the concepts of small organic molecules and descriptions of their syntheses that appear in the peer-reviewed literature. ChemSynthesis can be used by either searching by journal or substance name, or by browsing by journal.

As an example of browsing, we could look through all of the records pulled from the Canadian Journal of Chemistry. On page one, we'd find a record for cyclohexyl bromide. Scrolling down, we'd see that there are actually three preparations for this substance known to ChemSynthesis, the other two appearing in ACS journals.

We can also search for substances by identifier, including InChIKey, InChI, and CAS number. To find cyclohexyl bromide, we could use 108-85-0. Be sure to select the correct kind of search ("Cas Number") from the drop-down.

As far as I can tell, most literature citations pointed to a detailed preparation in the text of a peer-reviewed article. One exception was Pyrrole-2-carboxaldehyde, for which the Canadian Journal of Chemistry reference appeared to have no information on.

Resources like ChemSynthesis that link to the primary literature can be quite valuable in research settings. To quickly find a literature preparation for a specific known substance, ChemSynthesis is a very handy tool.

Kudos

• Freely-available content, with a commitment to keep the service free.
• Multiple primary literature citations.
• Uncluttered interface.

Ideas for Improvement

• User should be able to click on citation and be taken directly to published article. DOI links would be optimal.
• Both substructure and exact structure search failed to respond when the respective buttons were pressed, rendering these features unusable.
• Browse by structure.
• Continuously update database rather than massive single update.
• Add a feedback link to each compound summary page to enable users to correct errors or suggest additional citations.
• Don't make users pull down the type of text search they're performing. The system should be able to determine that by itself.