11 - Web Alert — Using the Internet for Medicinal Chemistry

Abstract

There is currently a very large amount of information on available chemicals on the web. This information is relevant for both laboratory-scale synthesis and for larger scale preparations. However, it is more easily searched for as laboratory synthesis. A useful reference is to a mega-search site that incorporates the websites of online searchable chemicals and suppliers. Many suppliers offer database searching capabilities themselves. Large companies, such as Sigma–Aldrich, have managed to offer a complete online database of their products, which is searchable by name, structure, and CAS number. Such websites also feature online ordering via a secure interface. The smaller suppliers have been later in arriving at an online database with searching and secure ordering. Until recently, however, Maybridge and another small chemical supplier, Specs, which act as brokers of academically derived molecules, supplied regular updates of their catalog on CD-ROM. In addition, there are some commercial database products such as ChemSources International, which includes the products of more than 8000 chemical companies worldwide. The chemical section lists approximately 250,000 chemical compounds and provides contact data necessary for making direct enquiries to each chemical firm. The product is available at a cost of approximately $1,000 for a single user CD-ROM license. Web-Reactions is a new, unique reaction search system offering direct retrieval of reaction precedents through the Internet. For a limited time, the 400,000-reaction archive from InfoChem GmbH, Munich, is available for searching without cost. The Web-Reactions system is easy to learn and use, though it works only with Netscape Navigator, not Internet Explorer 5.0.