IV. Finding Physical Properties of Chemicals: A Practical Guide for Scientists, Engineers, and Librarians 

Full version with extensive annotations in press, ?Science and Technology Libraries? 21(3/4). Cover date 2001, to be published August 2003.

A) Manufacturer/Supplier Web Sites

B) MSDS Compilations

 

C. The Large Players: Recommended First Stops on the Web

Five Web sites cover more than 20,000 substances each: ChemFinder, NIST Chemistry WebBook, ChemExper Chemical Directory, Matweb, and the Physical PropertiesDatabase (PHYSPROP) developed by the Syracuse Research Corp.

1) ChemFinder (http://chemfinder.cambridgesoft.com/)

ChemFinder, the largest free property site on the Web, provides the structure, synonyms, CAS registry number, and up to nine physical properties directly for each compound. The best feature of ChemFinder is that it acts as a metasearch engine, searching over 350 Web sites and displaying direct links to these sites.

2) NIST Chemistry WebBook (http://webbook.nist.gov/chemistry/)

As befits the National Institute of Standards and Technology (formerly the National Bureau of Standards), the data quality and usability of this Web site is first rate. Up to forty-five thermochemical, thermophysical, and ion energetics critically reviewed properties are available for over 40,000 compounds.

3) ChemExper Chemical Directory (http://www.chemexper.com/)

This site provides a metasearch of over 70,000 chemicals from more than twenty supplier catalogs. The directory can be searched by registry number, molecular formula, chemical names, physical and chemical characteristics, and substructure.

4) Matweb (http://www.matweb.com/index.asp?ckck=1)

Covers over 25,400 materials, including polymers, metals, alloys, superalloys, ceramics, glass, fibers, composites, semiconductors and aerogels. Up to seventy-five properties are available for each material.

5) Physical Properties Database - PHYSPROP (http://esc.syrres.com/interkow/PhysProp.htm

From the Syracuse Research Corporation,  PHYSPROP contains chemical structures, names, and physical properties for over 25,250 chemicals. Some of the values are estimated rather than experimental.

C. General, Smaller Scale Web Sites

1) Hazardous Substances Data Bank (http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?HSDB

In addition to a very fine review of all environmental and health aspects of over 4,500 chemicals, the physical property section of these lengthy records provides up to ten of the more common properties. Unlike many free resources, the property values are critically reviewed and documented with the full literature reference.

2) NTP Chemical Health & Safety Data (http://ntp-server.niehs.nih.gov/Main_Pages/Chem-HS.html)

The information from the NIH National Toxicology Program is similar to the Hazardous Substances Data Bank. The typical properties for a database focusing on safety and handling are provided, such as flash point, evaporation rate, and pH.

3) Organic Compounds Database (http://www.colby.edu/chemistry/cmp/cmp.html)

Maintained at Colby College, this site features a database of 2,483 compounds compiled by Harry M. Bell of Virginia Tech. Though only a few common properties are provided, the search screen allows the selection of a wide variety of parameters including property values, element counts, and the presence or absence of certain broad structural entities such as amines or hydroxyl groups.

D. Sites Focusing on Specific Types of Material

1) ARS Pesticide Properties Database (http://wizard.arsusda.gov/acsl/ppdb.html)

Developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (ARS), this database is a compendium of chemical and physical properties of 334 widely used pesticides.

2) Critical Properties of Gases (http://www.flexwareinc.com/gasprop.htm)

This simple, but useful table from Flexware provides mole weight, critical pressure and critical temperatures for about 700 gases.

3) Fuel Property Database (http://www.ott.doe.gov/fuelprops/)

This database that provides key data on about twenty-seven advanced compression ignition fuels, such as biodiesel and synthetic diesel.

4) NIST Ceramics WebBook (http://www.ceramics.nist.gov/webbook/evaluate.htm)

The NIST (U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology) Ceramics WebBook consists of two searchable databases, High-Temperature Superconductors (WebHTS) and Structural Ceramics (WebSCD), and one browsable collection of property data summaries (WebPDS) for six categories of ceramics.

5) Pesticide Fact Sheets - New Active Ingredients (http://www.epa.gov/opprd001/factsheets/)

This Web site contains extensive information on new pesticides registered with the U.S. EPA Office of Pesticide Programs. Since it covers only new active ingredients since fiscal year 1997, the file is small, only forty-two substances at this writing.

6) Plastics Additives Database (http://www.specialchem.com/customers/demo/formSearchProduct_demo.asp)

Specialchem operates a set of free information services to link users and suppliers of plastic additives. A 9,500 product database from about 260 suppliers can be searched by additive function, base polymer, trade name, supplier, and keywords.

7) Plastics Technology Materials Database (http://www.plasticstechnology.com/dp/materials/)

Plastics Technology Magazine provides information on over 13,190 grades of plastics. They are searchable by about sixty properties, supplier name, resin family, descriptive terms like color, and price ranges.

8) Solv-DB (http://solvdb.ncms.org/solvdb.htm)

Sponsored by the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS), at least 224 solvents can be searched by eight different parameters including solvent name, CAS registry number, molecular formula, and chemical category. Nine different properties are range searchable including flash point, vapor pressure, density, and surface tension.

E. Sites Focusing on Specific Properties

1) Acoustic Material Property Tables (http://www.ultrasonic.com/tables/index.htm)

Specialty Information Associates maintains this simple, but effective, set of tables in MS Excel format providing six different acoustic properties of materials. Solids, plastics, rubbers, liquids, and gases are all covered.

2) Dielectric Constant Reference Guide (http://www.asiinstr.com/dc1.html#List)

Where else can one readily find the dielectric constant for beeswax or barley flour? For materials with variable compositions such as polymers or minerals, a range of values is given.

F. Academic Directories

1) Duke University Chemical & Physical Properties in the Library (http://www.chem.duke.edu/~chemlib/properties.html#phys)

The Duke University properties page focuses on local print sources for sixty-nine properties. However, the few Web links provided are certainly appropriate.

2) Indiana University CHEMINFO SIRCh Physical Properties (http://www.indiana.edu/~cheminfo/ca_ppi.html)

Any one spending any time in the field of chemical information quickly becomes familiar with this premier scientific information Web site maintained by Gary Wiggins of Indiana University. Though annotations are limited, the page is well organized.

3) University at Buffalo Materials Properties Locator Database (http://libweb.lib.buffalo.edu/sel/searchSelMaterials.html)

A searchable database of nearly 100 print sources is maintained by the Science and Engineering Library. The database record for each source contains a brief annotation, generic and specific property keywords, and types of material covered.

4) University of Texas Thermodex http://thermodex.lib.utexas.edu/)

This also is a searchable directory focusing on thermodynamic properties and is maintained by the Mallet Chemistry Library. The search form also allows specification of classes of materials and specific compounds in combination with desired properties.

 

Last modified: 16 June 2003
URL: http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/asl/guides/webpresentsla.html