CAS Common Chemistry now provides authoritative data on almost 500,000 substances

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Mar 17 2021

CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society (ACS) that specializes in scientific information solutions, has expanded the CAS Common Chemistry resource. To strengthen the accuracy of publicly available scientific information, CAS Common Chemistry now provides authoritative information on nearly 500,000 substances from CAS REGISTRY^®. The collection represents substances commonly found in consumer products, on regulatory lists and as part of introductory chemistry curricula.

As part of ACS, CAS is committed to providing the global community with accurate chemical information. Aligned with the ACS Open Science initiative, CAS Common Chemistry broadens access for everyone who seeks reliable scientific information on routinely encountered chemicals. Enhanced search functionality and an application programming interface (API) enable interested individuals to quickly find chemical names, CAS Registry Numbers^®, structures or basic compound properties.

"We saw a unique opportunity to further boost the reach of open, accurate chemical information to foster learning and promote safety. By expanding access to information curated by our scientists, we can encourage safe practices with chemicals of interest," says Tim Wahlberg, chief product officer at CAS.

For over a century, CAS has collected, curated and analyzed the world's published science to fuel innovation. CAS REGISTRY is the world's most trusted collection of chemical substance information. The universally recognized CAS Registry Number provides a unique, unmistakable identifier for chemical substances and is commonly found on packaging of household chemical products, in addition to research publications, chemical catalogs, substance indices and management systems.

First launched in 2009, CAS Common Chemistry initially provided public access to several thousand substances and associated data. Popularity of the site has since grown to more than a million visits annually. In collaboration with thought leaders in the chemistry and open science community, CAS scientists dramatically expanded the community resource with a focused subset of substances from CAS REGISTRY. Optimized for mobile devices, CAS Common Chemistry now makes accurate chemical information accessible from anywhere.

Martin Walker, Ph.D., chemistry department chair at State University of New York at Potsdam, was one of the collaborators involved in the project.

It's important for the public to be able to access information on chemicals they may come into contact with, either at home or in the environment. The CAS Registry Number plays a key role in accessing that information, for which CAS remains the gold standard. I'm excited to see the collection expand to almost half a million compounds, providing a major, trustworthy source for chemical information."

Martin Walker, Ph.D., Chemistry Department Chair, State University of New York at Potsdam

In addition to expansion of included substances, enhanced capabilities will meet evolving demands for information. Newly added API capabilities support the growing needs of digital workflows and cheminformatics initiatives with direct lookup functionality. Reusable licensing of content is ensured through a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license.