It is essential that you know the physical data and safety precautions for each chemical that you use in the organic labs. This information is contained in several places, including the bottle label, the MSDS, a book or an online source. The main purpose of this page is to link you to online sources of chemical information.
This current topic, "hazard and physical data for compounds," relates closely to handling of hazardous chemicals. Please read these related areas on this site:
The Internet has some excellent sites for chemical information. The following are recommended for general information on a compound. Another source of physical data and hazard information is the MSDS for that compound.
General chemical information
National Library of Medicine, Specialized Information Services Looks good, links to several databases, gives structure, RN, lots of hazard information, less emphasis on physical data than on physical properties, some databases focus on drugs, also links to journal articles about particular chemicals (usually medical-orientated). Databases:
- ChemID Plus
- NCI-3D
- Superlist
- Chemical Information Web Links
Focus on physical data
ChemFinder Recommended: Besides physical data, many links on each compound to other sites with information on the compound.
NIST Site The NIST site has the physical data for a lot of compounds, including spectral data.
ACS - Chemcyclopedia, largely for finding a manufacturer of a compound. (Knowledge of the manufacturer can assist you in finding more information on a compound.)
Focus on MSDS: These sites are too numerous to list here, so they are on a separate page:
Focus on safety: Whether or not it's a hazard or carcinogen.
National Library of Medicine, Toxicology and Environmental Health (includes a toxicology tutorial, links to databases such as Toxnet)
Envirofacts Warehouse Especially good, detailed safety information.
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
CDC/NIOSH - health hazard evaluations
EPA site, Integrated Risk System, or IRIS
Focus on carcinogens: A compound needs to be on one of the following lists to "officially" be a carcinogen; you probably can order a printed copy at each site: NTP, IARC, or OSHA; but the OSHA site takes you to the NTP site. Please also visit the organic chemistry toxicology nomenclature page, section on carcinogens.
National Toxicology Program - The official list of carcinogens
IARC - international agency for research on cancer IARC
University of Colorado Science Library Online Resources
The Science Library is located in Norlin. There are quite a few computers near the Science Library Information Desk for student use. If you sit down at these, you can access:
Although the Science Library web page is accessible from any computer, of the above, only WebSpirs can be accessed outside of the Science Library itself. The page below maintains links to sources of information on physical and hazard data and chemical literature searches.
Most of the information you will need in the lab courses is in the back of the Handbook for Organic Chemistry Lab, available in the bookstore, on reserve in the Library, and for check-out from the Organic Chem Stockroom. The information in the Handbook was taken from either the CRC, Merck Index, and/or Aldrich Catalogue. These are excellent printed sources for physical and hazard data on compounds. Each of these reference books is available in the Science Library and in the Organic Chemistry Stockroom.
