Chemistry & Biochemistry: Properties of Chemicals & Materials

Databases to Start Searching for Properties

These are the best databases to begin your search for properties of chemicals and materials, with a more extensive list on our Properties of Chemical and Materials guide.

SciFinder
You can locate property data for your compound through a substance search in the 204-million compound CAS Registry. Experimental and predicted data can be found in the substance record, with literature references for the experimental data. You can also search SciFinder by research topic, which can be helpful if you're searching for a broad group of properties and/or group of compounds, like enthalpy of halogenated benzenes or mechanical properties of carbonitrides. SciFinder requires a one-time registration.
Reaxys
Database of millions of substances, many with experimental property data. Every property fact is associated with at least one article or patent reference. The easiest way to search is by substance, then bring up the record and browse the available properties, including physical, electrical, chromatographic, magnetic, mechanical, spectra, optical, and thermodynamic. You can also search by one or more properties using the query builder.
Knovel
Collection of 11,000 handbooks and databases for chemistry and engineering, including a large number property data sources.
From Material Property Search, enter your material/substance, then browse and select from the list of available properties grouped by category (electrical, mechanical, thermal/thermodynamic, etc.). Data are presented in interactive, downloadable tables, and in some cases interactive graphs. For chemicals, there's also the Open Chemicals Materials Search, NIST's database of thermodynamic data for 27,000 compounds. Click more to see some of the key titles.
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Key databases include: DIPPR Project 801 (physical, thermodynamic, and transport properties for 2100 industrially important chemicals) -- Knovel Solvents: A Property Database -- Knovel Critical Tables -- Yaws' Handbook series, including Yaws' Critical Property Data for Chemical Engineers and Chemists -- DECHEMA Corrosion Handbook -- ASM International Handbooks -- Metallic Materials Properties Development and Standardization -- Alloy Databases (Aluminum, Titanium, Magnesium) -- Knovel Optical and Filter Glass Database -- Properties of Polymers -- MatWeb Material Data Sheets (Metal, Plastic, Composite).
CHEMnetBASE
Single search for CRC's collection of chemical information databases. Includes CRC Handbook of Chemistry & Physics, Dictionary of Organic Compounds, Dictionary of Natural Products, Properties of Organic Compounds, and Polymers: A Property Database.
PubChem
World's largest collection of freely available chemical information, with more than 115 million compounds records (compiled from 300+ million substance records), The records include physical properties, spectra, safety and hazard information, and more, There are more than 900 data sources contributing to PubChem, primarily chemical vendors, research and development organizations, and government agencies.
Landolt-Börnstein - New Series
Extensive collection of physical property data. IMPORTANT: This series is now part of SpringerMaterials, which we don't license. However, you can still search the SpringerMaterials database for your compound and property. If the document you need is from a pre-2010 volume of Landolt-Börnstein, you can access it online via Portico. Make sure you note the Landolt volume and document name (often the compound in question) from your SpringerMaterials search, which you'll need when you browse the volumes in Portico. Instructions on searching SpringerMaterials to locate a Landolt-Börnstein chapter in Portico [PDF].
MatWeb
Properties database with datasheets for more than 170,000 engineering materials: metals, polymers, ceramics, composites, and more. Free to search and use, with an option to register for added functionality.