Comparisons of the Most Important Chemistry Databases –– SciFinder Program and Reaxys Database System

Abstract

The posibility of comparing textual description of a problem is a clear advantage of the SciFinder resulting from abundant indexing of the paper content done by specialists in contrast to the description based on the paper title and abstract only. Search for individual compounds affords comparable results for both databases because both use the same principles of excerpting all compounds studied in a given document. In reaction search the advantage of Reaxys is distinct, much like the former databases Beilstein and Gmelin, which are built as reaction databases. The reaction module CASREACT in SciFinder is comparable with the Reaxys in the last 30–40 years only but offers no data for inorganic reactions. The patent search in Chemical Abstracts (CA) with traditional in-depth coverage of patents and in the Reaxys are strong in looking for data of both organic and inorganic compounds. Despite the attempts of both databases at extending coverage and being competitive, the concept based on bibliographic records in CA and compound listing in Beilstein or Gmelin lead to different results, which is advantageous for completeness and relevance of the results.