Nomenclature Resources

    A single compound may have many different names in the chemical literature. For example, the simple compound: H2NCH2CH2OH can be named: 2-Aminoethanol, 2-Aminoethyl alcohol, 2-Hydroxyethylamine, beta-Hydroxyethylamine, 2-Hydroxyethanamine, or 1-Amino-2-; and also has the less systematic ("trivial") name Ethanolamine. 

     Searching by chemical name in handbooks and other chemical reference resources can be tricky. All synonyms may not be included in a reference source and it is difficult to tell which name is the IUPAC name. The nomenclature used by CA (Chemical Abstracts) has developed in parallel and generally in accordance with IUPAC rules but may change from one Collective Index to another Collective Index.

     The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC)  is the recognized world authority on chemical nomenclature, terminology, symbols, units, atomic weights and related topics.   The IUPAC Home Page provides access to the full text of a number of
IUPAC recommendations, including:

IUPAC 's nomenclature books are used by professional chemists in academia, government and chemical industry throughout the world: 

Gold: Chemical Terminology
 Green: Quantities, Units and Symbols in Physical Chemistry
 Red: Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry
 Blue: Nomenclature of Organic Compounds
 Purple: Macromolecular Nomenclature
 Orange: Analytical Nomenclature
 Silver: Nomenclature and Symbols in Clinical Chemistry

Print and electronic resources to  use when you know one name for a compound but need synonyms:

Dictionary of Commonly Cited Compounds
     The Chapman & Hall/CRC Dictionary of Commonly Cited Compounds is a carefully edited database containing the 25,000 most popular compounds as used by chemists. It contains the top 25,000 most commonly cited compounds in Chemical Abstracts, and covers drugs, organic compounds, solvents, natural products, analytical reagents, inorganic compounds, materials, the elements, and their isotopes. The database is fully substructure searchable, and contains chemical names, physical properties and bibliographic references.  Searching each Dictionary of Commonly Cited Compounds is completely free of charge - you can browse, perform searches and view search hitlists. If you want to view or print the full product entries you will need a current subscription which the University of St. Thomas does not have.

Gardner's Chemical Synonyms and Trade Names  Ref . TP 9 .G286 1994,
      Inclusion in Gardner's is based on its importance as a commercially available chemical. Thus all bulk inorganic chemicals, major pesticides, dyestuffs,  surfactants, metals and alloys are included. The 5,000 highest volume chemicals in the US, as defined by application of the Toxic Substances Control Act, are all represented.  

Merck Index Ref.  RS 51  .M4 2006
    The Index includes data on 10,000 compounds.  It is arranged alphabetically by chemical name, and is well-indexed with see references to synonyms. It is update irregularly. 

Names, Synonyms, and Structures of Organic Compounds  Ref. QD 291 .N36 '96, 
    It provides critical information on the identity of chemicals and allows easy cross referencing among the diverse nomenclatures used by the various scientific disciplines. The compounds selected include most common organic compounds:  This excellent reference provides names, synonyms, molecular formulas, and CAS Registry Numbers for 27,500 organic compounds. The compendium contains 135,000 synonyms and 20,000 chemical structures. Compounds are arranged in ascending order of CAS Registry Numbers.
     For your convenience, Names, Synonyms, and Structures of Organic Compounds is indexed both by Name/Synonym and Molecular Formula.   It is  particularly useful to determine the  CAS Registry number.

Ring  Systems Handbook   QD 390 .R56
    The CA Ring Systems Handbook is very useful for finding CA names of any compounds containing rings. It consists of a catalog of over 91,000 structural diagrams, called the Ring Systems File. The entries are arranged first in order of the number of component rings, e.g.  "3 RINGS" followed by the sizes of the component rings in ascending order, e.g. "5,6,7", followed by the elemental content of the rings, e.g. "C3N2-C6-C5NO".  Substituents are not included in the handbook: it names the      'pa rent' compound.  The RSH also contains an alphabetical listing of names, the Ring Name Index, which can be used to find the structure of any ring-containing parent compound listed in CA. 

EMB
August 28th, 2006