Research Guides: Chemistry: Home

Scholarly Communications Coordinator; Research Librarian for Chemistry, Earth Systems Science, and Russian Studies

Email Me

Contact:

University of California, irvine
The UCI Libraries
P.O. Box 19557
Irvine CA 92623-9557
Office: (949)824-9732
mcbrown@uci.edu

orcid.org/0000-0002-3366-1281

9492788263

Subjects: Chemistry, Russian

Course Guides

Resources for chemistry

Chemistry Software on Campus
Software installed in MSTB LAb A/B (Multipurpose Science & Technology Building, MSTB 226)
Information Competencies for Chemistry Undergraduates
All the information skills an undergraduate chemistry student should know to be successful. Prepared by Special Libraries Association, Chemistry Division (2007)
Online Ethics Center
A source of readily accessible literature and information, case studies and references, and discussion groups on ethics in engineering and science. It focuses on problems that arise in and for the work life of engineers and scientists. It serves practitioners, educators and students, and individuals interested in professional and research ethics.

Ask a Librarian

News and Events

Distillations - weekly podcast from Chemical Heritage Society
Distillations is a weekly podcast on the past, present, and future of chemistry, with interviews, features, commentaries, reviews, and—"of course!"—the Element of the Week. Topics range from chemistry as technology to the pharmaceutical revolution.
Chemical Heritage Society
The Chemical Heritage Foundation is dedicated to preserving and promoting the progress of science. Located in Philadelphia, CHF maintains world-class collections, including instruments and apparatus, rare books, fine art, and the personal papers.
Chemical Genealogy Database
A professional genealogy (as opposed to a family genealogy) traces a person's intellectual line of descent via one's PhD advisor or mentor for one's highest non-honorary degree. The starting points for this Database are usually chemists, so that this is a

Key Chemistry Sites

The top websites and resources for chemistry and chemical information.
* UC Irvine access only

SciFinder This link opens in a new window
SciFinder-n, from CAS, is one of the core databases for chemistry and related sciences, including biochemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, nanotechnology, environmental science, physics, mechanical engineering, health sciences, and more. It indexes references from journal articles, patents, conference proceedings, and more, aw well as chemical substances, protein and nucleic acid sequences, and single and multi-step reactions.SciFinder Scholar is now available on the Web for current students, faculty, and staff at all UC campuses. One time registration is required for new users, then login and search. Off-campus access requires use of the Cisco VPN software
Web of Science (WoS) This link opens in a new window
Global citation database provides access to the Science Citation Index expanded from 1900 to the present, Social Sciences Citation Index from 1956 to the present, and Arts & Humanities Citation Index from 1975 to the present.
Reaxys This link opens in a new window
Searches across the Beilstein, Gmelin, and EcoPharm databases, which include reaction and substance data for organic, inorganic, organometallic, and bioactive compounds. Reaxys also allows synthesis planning and chemical sourcing.
Engineering Village: Compendex This link opens in a new window
The Compendex database provides deep coverage of global engineering literature. Also includes literature in the following related areas: applied physics, optics, bioengineering, biotechnology, food science and technology, materials science, instrumentation, medical devices, and nanotechnology. Excludes patents. Subject: Technology -- Abstracts; Engineering -- Abstracts; Technology -- Indexes; Engineering -- Indexes
Scopus This link opens in a new window
An abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature, scientific journals, books and conference proceedings. Content covers research output in the fields of physical science, health science, life science, technology, medicine, and social sciences.
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global This link opens in a new window
Index and full text of graduate dissertations and theses from North American and European schools and universities, including the University of California.
Knovel This link opens in a new window
Interactive books and databases containing a large number of online science and engineering handbooks, in subject areas of chemistry, materials science, and engineering.
CHEMnetBASE: Chemical Databases Online This link opens in a new window
A collection of interactive chemical databases, chemical dictionaries, and the CRC Handbook of Chemistry & Physics.
eScholarship This link opens in a new window
Institutional repository for the University of California's faculty, staff and students to deposit and post their creative output.
Current Protocols This link opens in a new window
Interactive source of research techniques. Its coverage includes cell and molecular biology, genetics, bioinformatics, protein science, and imaging. Protocols are presented step-by-step and are continuously expanded, updated, and annotated. See more on protocols on the Biology guide.
JoVE This link opens in a new window
JoVE is a peer reviewed, scientific video journal that offers educational videos to support the effective teaching of science concepts and laboratory methods in undergraduate and graduate courses at universities and colleges. These videos enable quick in-depth comprehension of complex STEM subjects to increase student engagement and learning outcomes, and support innovative teaching initiatives such as blended learning and flipped classroom.
Science of Synthesis This link opens in a new window
Full-text resource for methods in synthetic organic chemistry.

Cambridge Structural Database - downloadable client *
The complete packages are several Gigabytes in size and requires site and confirmation codes to register the product after it is installed and for the quarterly updates issued by Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre.
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The CSD contains X-ray and neutron diffraction analyses of carbon-containing molecules having up to 1000 atoms (including hydrogens):

* Organics
* Compounds of the main group elements
* Organometallics
* Metal complexes

The CSD covers peptides of up to 24 residues; higher oligomers are covered by the Protein Data Bank.

The CSD covers mono-, di- and tri-nucleotides; higher oligomers are covered by the Nucleic Acids Database.

There is a small overlap between the CSD and the Inorganic Crystal Structure Database (ICSD) in the area of molecular inorganics. Information on other metal-containing structures can also be found in the Metals and Alloys Crystallographic Database (CRYSTMET).
Cambridge Structural Database - Web version *

National Technical Reports Library This link opens in a new window
NTRL (National Technical Reports Library) offers a public interface for accessing authenticated government technical reports in the U.S. Department of Commerce NTIS (National Technical Information Service) database. Provides indexing and access to historical and current government technical reports archived by the National Technical Information Service.
PubChem This link opens in a new window
Mostly contains small molecules, but also larger molecules such as nucleotides, carbohydrates, lipids, peptides, and chemically-modified macromolecules. We collect information on chemical structures, identifiers, chemical and physical properties, biological activities, patents, health, safety, toxicity data, and many others.
Landolt-Börnstein This link opens in a new window
A vast collection of volumes of tables of physical and chemical properties of materials. The University of California has access to the archival collection of LB online via the Portico site. At present, the volumes are listed alphabetically by their English titles, but eventually will be grouped into subject sections for easier browsing. Earlier volumes (to the 1980's) are in German.

Reference Ebooks

e-EROS *
Encyclopedia of Reagents for Organic Synthesis (ebook).
Fieser and Fieser's Reagents for Organic Synthesis *
Online database version of the standard reference work describing reagents of use to organic chemist.
Comprehensive Organometallic Chemistry III *
Presents a comprehensive overview of the major developments in the field since 1993 providing general and significant insights. Highlights the expansion of applications in organometallic chemistry with a strong organic synthesis focus. Provides a structured first point of entry to the key literature and background material for those planning research, teaching and writing about the area.
National Center for Biotechnology Information
Cross-database searching from NCBI.
Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology *
Presents a wide scope of articles on chemical substances—including their properties, manufacturing, and uses. It also focuses on industrial processes and unit operations in chemical engineering, as well as covering fundamentals and scientific subjects related to the field.

The Merck Index Online This link opens in a new window
Authoritative and reliable source of information on chemicals, drugs and biologicals.

NIST Chemistry Webbook
This site provides thermochemical, thermophysical, and ion energetics data compiled by NIST under the Standard Reference Data Program.
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General Searches Searches

* Formula
* Name
* IUPAC identifier
* CAS registry number
* Reaction
* Author
* Structure

Physical Property Based

* Ion energetics properties
* Vibrational and electronic energies
* Molecular weight
Organic Reactions *
Organic Reactions is the definitive resource for synthetic transformations, with an emphasis on preparative aspects. In addition to providing reaction scope, stereochemical aspects, and side reactions, a selection of representative experimental conditions are given.
Organic Syntheses
Annual collections of detailed, reliable, and carefully checked procedures for the synthesis of organic compounds.
ACersNIST Phase Diagrams Database *
Phase Online functionality includes:
* Search commentaries and diagrams by chemical system, published author’s last name, volume, language, publications year, and figure number.
* View diagram’s chemical system, figure number, figure notes, references, commentary and footnotes.
* Manipulate diagrams with zoom in/out, lever rule, curve follow, mirror, Mol% to Wt% or Wt% to Mol% and built-in calculator.
Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry *
Reference work in chemistry and chemical and life science engineering, covering inorganic and organic chemicals, advanced materials, pharmaceuticals, polymers and plastics, metals and alloys, biotechnology and biotechnological products, food chemistry, process engineering and unit operations, analytical methods, environmental protection, and much more.

Claim Your Overleaf Account

Claim your UCI Libraries Overleaf Professional Account Today!

All UC Irvine students, faculty, and staff may claim a Professional Overleaf account for writing and publishing their projects, presentations, and research papers. Claim your Professional Overleaf account via this link: https://www.overleaf.com/edu/uci

Retirement of SciFinder "Classic" - December 31, 2022

On December 31, 2022, the SciFinder “classic” interface will be retired for the University of California system. Going forward, we will only have access to SciFinder-n (or SciFinderⁿ, https://scifinder-n.cas.org).
Registered SciFinder users should expect to see several emails between now and the end of December reminding you of the change.
If you are already using SciFinder-n, there’s nothing you need to do.
If you are still using SciFinder “classic,” I do encourage you to begin using SciFinder-n. It’s the same username and password for both systems. If you have the old URL bookmarked, it will redirect to SciFinder-n after December 31.
- To migrate your saved searches and alerts, login to SciFinder-n, go to Saved and Alerts, then Migrate Alerts & Saved Results. There is more information about migration exceptions within the SciFinder-n help menu (link).
CAS has created some good training videos on SciFinder-n (https://www.cas.org/support/training/scifinder-n). There are also some upcoming webinars, and I can offer training to classes, research groups, and individuals.

Updated: Mitchell Brown (June 16, 2022) contact at mcbrown@uci.edu

protocols.io

Protocols.io is an open access platform for the creation and sharing of detailed methods and protocols. Features of protocols.io include:

Share methods before, during and after publication
Citable; add DOI to manuscripts
Versioning: protocols can be kept up-to-date
Run protocols step-by-step in a browser or mobile
Open access platform
Forking, versioning, and commenting features
Archived in CLOCKSS

UC researchers currently have free access to Premium accounts during the pilot period (May 31, 2024). Premium features include private collaboration around method development and use in classrooms. In the long term, this initiative should also increase the reproducibility and rigor of the research published by UC academics. Use your UCI email when logging in to access these features.

Electronic Books

ACS Style Guide *
The ACS Style Guide is an established and definitive source within and beyond the chemistry community, educating researchers on how to effectively communicate scientific information.

Electronic book holdings for UC Irvine libraries are searchable in Library Search.

Springer E-Book *
The UC Libraries have purchased nearly every Springer ebook published in English and German from 2005 to 2009.
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The nearly 20,000 books fall into the following broad subject areas: architecture and design; behavioral science; biomedical and life sciences; business and economics; chemistry & materials science; computer science; earth & environmental sciences; engineering; humanities, social sciences and law; mathematics & statistics; medicine; physics & astronomy; professional and applied computing and technology.
Knovel *
Engineering and Technical handbooks
Royal Society of Chemistry E-Books *
Access to all RSC monographs 1986 to current year.
CRCNetBase *
Full-text search across science-technology-engineering databases of texts from CRC Press.
Wiley Online Library Ebook Collection (2011 frontlist only) *
(New titles cataloged monthly) Wiley Online Library Ebook Collection which includes 950 books with a 2011 publication date. The collection will serve a wide range of research needs in the life, health and physical sciences, social science, and the humanities.
Viewing e-books on an iPad
This video demonstrates how various types of e-books (from an academic library) display on an iPad via a browser (Safari). The books are all from subscription databases. By Valerie Forrestal and Julie Arnett, Stevens Institute of Technology, June 2010. (12:07)

UC Irvine departments & sites

Finding faculty & campus resources

UCI Department of Chemistry
UCI School of Physical Sciences
Research Grant Resources
Guide for identifying and writing research grants and funding sources.

Professional information

Organizations, associations & career information

American Chemical Society
Career Information (American Chemical Society)
Royal Society of Chemistry
IUPAC-International Union of Pure and Applied Chemists Careers in Chemistry
Chronicle of Higher Education
Chronicle Careers: Find a Job -- Academic Positions
Chemical Information Listserv (CHMINF-L) (requires registration)
CHMINF-L serves as a forum for discussion of chemical information sources and an information source for chemistry reference questions.
Chemistry Careers
Discover the wide range of career options in the chemical sciences!
The employment world for chemical professionals can be divided into five main sectors: industry, academia, government, non-profit, and entrepreneurship - American Chemical Society

Chemical Drawing Software

ACD Labs - ChemSketch 12.0 Freeware
ACD/ChemSketch Freeware is a drawing package that allows you to draw chemical structures including organics, organometallics, polymers, and Markush structures.
Marvin
MarvinSketch is a Java based chemical drawing tool. MarvinSketch allows you to create and edit molecules in various file formats including MDL mol, Compressed mol, unique SMILES, SMARTS, Sybyl mol, PDB, CML, XYZ, POV-Ray.
ChemDoodle 3.2.1
ChemDoodle also natively reads and writes many common file formats including ChemDraw's CDX and CDXML.