Databases for Chemists and Chemical Engineers
MDL Databases Available at Stanford University
Databases Available
The following databases are provided by
MDL Information Systems, Inc.:
| Subject |
Type |
Name |
Description |
Documentation (note) |
| Bioactivity |
Molecule |
MDL-Drug Data Report-3D |
Description from MDL
http://www.mdli.com/products/knowledge/drug_data_report/index.jsp |
n/a |
| National Cancer Institute Database-3D |
Description from MDL
http://www.mdli.com/products/knowledge/cancer_db/index.jsp |
n/a |
| Chemical Supplier |
Molecule |
Available Chemicals Directory (ACD)-3D |
Description from MDL
http://www.mdli.com/products/experiment/available_chem_dir/index.jsp |
n/a |
| Metabolism |
Reaction |
Metabolite |
Description from MDL
http://www.mdli.com/products/predictive/metabolite/index.jsp |
n/a |
| Synthesis |
Reaction |
ChemInform Reaction Library |
Description from MDL
http://www.mdli.com/products/knowledge/chem_reaction_lib/index.jsp |
n/a |
| Comprehensive Heterocyclic Chemistry (CHC) |
n/a |
n/a |
| Organic Syntheses (ORGSYN) |
Description from MDL
http://www.mdli.com/products/knowledge/orgsyn_database/index.jsp |
n/a |
| Reference Library of Synthetic Methodology |
Description from MDL
http://www.mdli.com/products/knowledge/reflib_synthetic_meth/index.jsp |
n/a |
(note) User manuals are also available on Reserve in Swain Library.
Desktop Software Needed
A suite of software programs are used to query and manipulate search results from
the above files. See the
instructions for downloading and configuring
ISIS, Chime Pro and Central Library software (no account is needed to download this software).
Training sessions will be offered in the near future.
- ISIS/Draw is a full featured chemical drawing package that produces
publication quality graphics and also serves as a query drawing tool for
searching ISIS. Macintosh and Windows versions available.
More information:
MDL’s ISIS/Draw page (http://www.mdli.com/products/framework/isis_draw/index.jsp).
Download (free for academic users, registration required):
MDL’s Download page (http://www.mdli.com/downloads/downloadable/index.jsp)
(Stanford only).
- ISIS for Excel is an Excel add-in that provides the search, display,
and manipulation capabilities of ISIS/Base for chemical structures and related
data, entirely within Excel. Macintosh and Windows versions available.
More information:
MDL’s ISIS for Excel page (http://www.mdli.com/products/framework/isis_excel/index.jsp).
- Chime Pro, a Netscape or Internet Explorer plug-in, searches and
displays chemical structures, reactions, 3D models and associated data from
within your web browser. It renders “live” chemical structures
that can be rotated, reformatted, and saved in files for use with other
software programs.
More information:
MDL’s Chime Pro page (http://www.mdli.com/products/framework/chimepro/index.jsp).
Download:
Macintosh,
PC (Stanford only).
- Central Library is a ready-to-use, desktop software application
designed to help researchers manage – at the product level – the chemical
and biological data generated by combinatorial chemistry processes.
More information:
MDL’s Central Library page (http://www.mdl.com/products/framework/central_lib/index.jsp).
MDL Accounts for Searching
The MDL databases are available to students, faculty, visiting
scholars, postdocs, and staff at Stanford University. Users may also perform searches
in the Swain Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Library.
Faculty may request a free
MDL account
from the Bioinformatics Resource Facility for
their lab group.
The Swain Library account will support coursework that needs access to the MDL
databases. Each account supports multiple simultaneous users. Accounts will
also include disk space for storing locally created files. Please contact Grace Baysinger,
graceb@stanford.edu,
(650) 725-1039 for more information on the instruction and use of the MDL
software and databases.
Copyright and Usage Limitations
All users need to read the important information in the
MDL copyright and usage limitations page
before using these databases.
Frequently Asked Questions & Help
The FAQ page contains hardware and software
requirements as well as tips and support information for using the MDL
databases.
Emily Wixson at the University of Wisconsin developed
documentation for using MDL files (http://chemistry.library.wisc.edu/mdl/mdlhome.htm).
While the way we connect is different, the instructions Emily assembled for
searching the files is the same for both institutions.
Contact People:
- MDL Accounts: Lee Kozar,
kozar@stanford.edu,
Bioinformatics Resource Facility, (650) 497-4483
- Instruction & Use of Software/Databases: Grace Baysinger,
graceb@stanford.edu,
Swain Library of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, (650) 725-1039
The MDL databases are being made available through the collaborative
efforts of the Bioinformatics Resource Facility
in the Medical School, the
Swain Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Library, and Stanford’s
Department of Environmental, Health and Safety.
