Research Guides: CHM237: Introductory Inorganic Chemistry II: Finding Properties, Safety Info, and Spectra

Searching for Properties, Safety Information, and Spectra

There are a wide variety of places to find specific data to support you in your Inorganic Chemistry labs. Remember, it's always a good idea to track data back to its original source if possible, especially when you find conflicting values or discover an outlier. This can help you better understand under what conditions the data were collected, and whether they represent an average, predicted or experimental value.

Need tips on finding property data? Check out our Finding Property Data Cheat Sheet!

Property Data Cheat Sheet

Safety Data Sheets (SDS)

It is important to note the chemicals you will be using during the lab and how to safely handle and dispose of them by reviewing each substance's Safety Data Sheet.

CCOHS Material Safety Data Sheets Database
Search the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety's (CCOHS) database of 50,000+ safety data sheets from different manufacturers. Use the filters on the left to search by product name or manufacturer/supplier.

Many manufacturers and suppliers provide free access to safety data sheets on their websites. You can also find the SDS by entering the product/common name for the substance and "sds" in Google.

Key Resources

Online Handbooks

CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
For over a century, the CRC Handbook has been a trusted and authoritative resource for tables of physical and chemical property data. Search the online version by substance, or navigate to a specific table and filter or sort for the data you are looking for.
Combined Chemical Dictionary
Use this database to search for information on substances and properties across a variety of chemical dictionaries, including the Dictionary of Organic Compounds, Dictionary of Drugs, and Dictionary of Natural Products.
Merck Index Online
Available online from the Royal Society of Chemistry, The Merck Index is an authoritative and reliable source of information on chemicals, drugs and biologicals. Particularly useful for pharmaceutical substances.
Knovel Library
Knovel provides online access to thousands of handbooks across many different publishers and subject areas, complete with interactive graphs and data tables. Especially useful for physical chemistry, materials chemistry, and chemical engineering. Search the full-text by keyword, or use the Property Search function to search by property and substance.

NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards This link opens in a new window
The NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards, now freely available online, offers key data about workplace chemicals and their hazards. To find a chemical of interest, search by keyword or browse by chemical name or CAS Number.

Free Databases

PubChem
PubChem is an freely accessible database of chemical information from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It contains primarily information on small molecules including chemical structures, identifiers, chemical and physical properties, safety & toxicity data, and more.

Chemspider This link opens in a new window
ChemSpider is a free database from the Royal Society of Chemistry containing chemical structures, properties, spectra, and more, Search by chemical name, identifier or chemical structure.
NIST Chemistry WebBook This link opens in a new window
From the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), this resource allows you to search both by substance and by a particular physical property to identify unknown substances.

The resources below contain physical and chemical property data, as well as spectral data. It is a good idea to search multiple resources when searching for property data, not only to increase your chances of finding relevant information, but also to cross-check property values.

Subscription Databases

SciFinder-n This link opens in a new window
Produced by Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS), is the most comprehensive source for searching the chemical literature. Search by topic, author, substance name or CAS Registry Number, or use the editor to draw chemical structures, substructures, or reactions.
Reaxys This link opens in a new window
Compounds and related factual properties, reaction and synthesis information, and citation data.

Spectra

Correlation Charts

Use these for interpretation of spectra. Includes common vibrational frequencies and shifts for various functional groups or common impurities that could result in inaccurate data.

IR Spectrum Table and Chart
From Sigma Aldrich: "The IR Spectrum Table is a chart for use during infrared spectroscopy. The table lists IR spectroscopy frequency ranges, appearance of the vibration and absorptions for functional groups. There are two tables grouped by frequency range and compound class."
NMR Chemical Shifts of Impurities Chart
From Sigma Aldrich: "These tables can support you in identifying and separating NMR signals of impurities that might originate from residual solvents or from your reaction apparatus."

Experimental Spectra

In addition to subscription databases like SciFinder and Reaxys, there are a variety of other resources that provide various types of spectra for different compounds. Some even allow searching by peaks and shifts. Explore the resources below to get familiar with common sources for spectra.

SDBS Spectral Database
From the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Japan, this resource allows you to search by compound or particular regions of shifts and peaks.
SpectraBase
A free database from Wiley containing hundreds of thousands of NMR, IR, Raman, UV-Vis, and Mass Spectra. Create a free account to view.

NIST Chemistry WebBook This link opens in a new window
Compiled and maintained by the National Institute for Standards in Technology (NIST), this free resource allows searching for spectra on specific compounds including IR, mass spec, UV/Vis, and other types of data.

Print Books at the Chemistry Library
Print books remain important and reliable sources of experimental spectral data, especially the Aldrich Libraries and Sadtler Handbooks. The Chemistry Library has these books in print for your reference.

Useful Guides

Unable to find what you are looking for in the resources above? For less common properties and substances, you may need to expand your search to specialized resources that are specific to certain types of properties, spectra, or substance classes. The guides below will help direct you to additional resources that may be useful beyond those listed above. If you are interested in a handbook or resource and would like help locating it at U of T Libraries, please contact your librarian for further assistance.

Finding Chemical and Physical Properties (Vanderbuilt University)
Select the chemical or physical property you are looking for from the alphabetical list to view suggested handbooks and other resources that contain that type of data. If you are unable to access a resource, search for the title in LibrarySearch or ask your librarian for assistance.
ThermoDex (University of Texas)
Enter a type of compound and/or the property you are interested in to find suggested handbooks that may contain the data you need. Many of these books are available in print at the Chemistry Library or at other U of T libraries.

Research Guides

CHM237: Introductory Inorganic Chemistry II