Chemistry: Databases and Off-Campus Access

Key Databases for Chemistry

SciFinder-n
Formerly SciFinder Scholar. SciFinder-n is the most comprehensive database for coverage of chemistry and chemical engineering. It has the world's largest collection of organic and inorganic substance information. It provides integrated access to CAPlus, CAS registry, CASREACT, CHEMLIST, and CHEMCATS, which are produced by Chemical Abstracts Service; and to MEDLINE, which is produced by the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Reaxys
organic, organo-metallic, and inorganic chemistry database.It is based on the CrossFire Beilstein, CrossFire Gmelin and Patent Chemistry databases, and covers over 3,800 journals and patents from 1771 to date
Cambridge Structural Database
The online version of the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD). A repository for structural data of organic, metal-organic and organometallic molecules
ChemSpider
ChemSpider is a free chemical structure database providing fast access to over 25 million structures, properties and associated information. Provided by the RSC.

PSDS - Physical sciences data-science service
The Cambridge Structural Database (CSD); DETHERM; Inorganic Crystal Structure Database (ICSD); Chemical Availability Search (ChASe) and Propersea (Property Prediction)

Scopus
a large multidisciplinary abstracting and citation database of peer-reviewed research literature. Covers over 19,000 journal titles.
Web of Science
Web of Science Core Collection includes the Science, Social Sciences and Arts & Humanities Citation Indexes, Conference Proceedings Citation Index for Science, Social Sciences & Humanities, Current Chemical Reactions and Index Chemicus.
Library search
Use Library Search to find Print books, ebooks and rare books; Journal and newspaper articles; Films and documentaries; Music scores.
You can also find items in the University’s Archive, Photographic and Museums collections as well as theses and research outputs from the University.
Google Scholar
Free database consisting of references to multidisciplinary articles, theses, books and abstracts. See https://libanswers.st-andrews.ac.uk/faq/93370 for information on how to set up your preferences to link to library journal holdings.

Differences between Reaxys and SciFinder

SciFinder vs. Reaxys: Key Differences

Feature	SciFinder	Reaxys
Focus	Comprehensive chemical literature & patents	Detailed reactions, synthesis, & physical data
Best For	Journal articles, patents, cited references	Reaction conditions, synthetic pathways, physical properties
Content	CAS database, global literature, patents	Beilstein (organic), Gmelin (inorganic), Patent Chemistry Database
Search	Substance, reaction, literature search	Reaction, structure, property search
Strengths	Literature reviews, patent searches, regulatory data	Detailed experimental reactions, synthesis planning
User Base	Academic & pharmaceutical researchers	Synthetic chemists, especially in organic & inorganic chemistry

Off-campus access

There are two ways of accessing library resources off-campus. The simplest is to use your University login, referred to on websites as your Institutional or Shibboleth login.

It is important to note that just because a website has an institutional login it does not mean that we have access to the journal. You need to search the Library collections or our E-journals database to check that we have a subscription to the journal and that it covers the year or volume that you are looking for.

See our Remote Access to Online Resources page for more information and detailed help.

Inter Library Loans

Any material that is not available online through the University we can get hold of for you through our InterLibrary Loans services. For further information see our ILL page, Journals can be sent to you by email, books will have to be picked up from the Main Library.

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