ChemSpider is home to over 128 million chemical structures and attracts researchers, in their millions, from around the world. In a single day, tens of thousands of research chemists use the ChemSpider tools and resource to support their work. You can position your company in front of them and broadcast your message to the whole ChemSpider community.

Benefits of submitting your catalogue to ChemSpider

With hundreds of thousands of chemists around the world visiting the site daily your company has an opportunity to expose your products to users and catalyze potential sales.

As a chemical vendor your organization has an opportunity to be listed as a data source containing the chemicals that you offer commercially. Each organization has a dedicated webpage that you can manage and update (see here for an example). For a list of data sources and example organizations presently listed on ChemSpider please visit the Data Sources page for more information.

You will also be listed as a vendor on the ChemSpider page for each structure in your catalogue.

Please note that we have some requirements to be added as a vendor in ChemSpider:

1. You must have at least 100 products which can be listed in ChemSpider (i.e. small molecules with defined structures)
2. You should have an English-language version of your website
3. You must be able to provide links to individual product pages, so users can get directly to the compound they are searching for on your site

If you meet all of the above criteria, please continue reading for more information about how to submit your catalogue and our formatting requirements.

What does it cost?

To discuss your requirements and pricing options please email advertising-at-rsc.org.

What do I need to provide?

We prefer to receive catalogues as SDF files wherever possible, but we also accept Excel spreadsheets (.xls, .xlsx, .csv) that contain all of the required information. Please carefully read the requirements below. If any of the required information is missing, we will be unable to process your catalogue. Please note that we do not accept virtual or prophetic compounds.

Required Data:

• Structures for each compound in your catalogue (For Excel spreadsheets: This must be an InChI or SMILES if your catalogue is supplied as an Excel file – we will not be able to process embedded images or structures in Excel spreadsheets)
• A catalogue number or ID for each compound
• Links to the product pages for each compound

If this data is missing, we will be unable to process your catalogue.

Recommended Data:

• Chemical names, Registry Numbers, and other identifiers. If you have more than one per compound, please put them in separate fields or separate them by semicolon.
• Physicochemical properties like melting point or refractive index

We can’t accept:

• Files without structural information
• Virtual compounds, or any compound you have not yet synthesised
• Pricing, purity or availability information – this will be filtered out
• Multiple chemical names separated by comma. Since many chemical names have commas in them, this causes problems when we try to separate them.
• Records where the structure is shown as a free base or acid, but other fields indicate that the product is a salt or hydrate. e.g. if your compound is supplied as a salt this must be depicted in your structure.

Data filtering:

Data quality is important to us. We run all files through a series of checks to filter out common structural errors. This means that the final count of products in your listing may be slightly lower than in the file you have supplied.

The following information will be removed:

• Purity, availability, size and pricing information
• Structures with invalid valence, net charge, and other errors
• Structures containing features that cannot be accurately depicted in ChemSpider and/or assigned an appropriate InChI, such as wildcard atoms and certain organometallic complexes.

Ionic structures drawn with covalent bonds or where the counterion is drawn as an elemental metal are removed or standardised. We also apply other standardisation and structure tidying, which helps users find your information by making sure it is mapped to the best page.

At the end of the deposition process, we will send you SDF files containing the structures which were filtered out.

Please note that we cannot accept listings which do not contain machine-readable depictions of chemical structures. We can only accept submissions based on mol/SDF, InChI or SMILES representation. We cannot process files that only contain lists of proprietary registry numbers or other identifiers.

When you have a catalogue file ready for deposition, please send it to us by email (ChemSpider-at-rsc.org.). If your file is too large to email, contact us. For larger files we can supply FTP details or arrange to download it from your site.

Tips

• Include the URL for individual product pages. This enables users to get directly to the compound they are looking for and improves the chance they will buy from you.
• If you include physicochemical properties like melting point or refractive index in your file a link to your website will appear next to this data in the ChemSpider record. This provides you additional visibility, at no extra charge.
• We can add your spectra to the relevant record pages along with your company name and a link to your product, providing you more exposure as well as demonstrating the quality of your products. If you are interested in this opportunity, email us at ChemSpider-at-rsc.org. for more information.
• ChemSpider attracts users from all around the world. If you have non-English synonyms for your products, including them in your file can help increase your exposure in your local market.

Preparing a Data Source description

Every Chemical Vendor on ChemSpider has a Data Source profile. Click here for an example page. When we first deposit your catalogue to the site, we will create a profile for you. This is the main source of information about your company on ChemSpider, so it is worthwhile to take some time to think about how you would like it to read.

Try to keep the description short and avoid complex formatting – remember the user can follow the link to your website for further information. When you hover over your name on a record page, this description will appear in a pop-up box; this display can only show a small amount of content.

Be sure to send us logo for your profile page. Logo files may be supplied as JPG, GIF or PNG files, and cannot be larger than 50kb in size.

If later on you decide you’d like to change the wording of your description, or if you want any other changes to your Data Source profile, drop us an email (ChemSpider-at-rsc.org.) and we’ll make the changes for you.

Updating your Listing in ChemSpider

When you have an updated catalogue available, please email advertising-at-rsc.org. to discuss the process for renewal. We are able to process updates on a quarterly basis to make sure your listings are up-to-date.

In order to make sure that our Chemical Vendors list remains accurate and up-to-date, we need to receive catalogue updates at least once a year. If the catalogue you have listed on our site is more than a year old, we may at our discretion contact you to request an updated version. As a last resort, we may remove badly out-of-date listings from our site entirely – so please remember to contact advertising-at-rsc.org. to discuss your renewal.

Vendor FAQ

Why is my compound count lower than the number of listings I supplied? What proportion of my listings are likely to be filtered out?

We run all files through a series of checks to filter out common structural errors and to make sure that the structures supplied are compatible with the ChemSpider data model. This means that the final count of products in your listing may be slightly lower than in the file you have supplied. Usually ≤5% of structures will be filtered out. This can vary depending on the kinds of products you are selling, and the choices made in depicting your structures. After depositing your catalogue we will send you files containing the structures which were filtered out so that you can review them.

My catalogue is an Excel spreadsheet, but I don’t have InChIs or SMILES for my whole catalogue – can I send you X instead?

No – without structural information (structures in an SDF file, or SMILES or InChI in an excel file) we cannot process your catalogue. Other identifiers such as registry numbers do not describe the structure of the compound; they cannot act as a substitute for this information.

I don’t have Synonyms/Registry Numbers for my whole catalogue – can you still process my catalogue?

Yes, we can process your catalogue without synonyms or registry numbers. However, if you do have this information available please do include it in your file as this can help people discover your listing.

My catalogue has changed – how can I update my listings on ChemSpider?

Please email advertising-at-rsc.org. and we would be happy to arrange this

How long will it take add my catalogue to your site?

We are usually able to upload catalogues within one week, however during busier times it may take up to a month. This may vary depending on the size of your file – if you have millions of compounds, it will normally take longer. Please feel free to inquire after your catalogue if it has not been added to the site within one month.

Can you give us structures for our compounds?

We cannot currently provide you with structure files from a list of compound names.

Can you help us with our website?

We do not currently provide solutions for chemical web stores.

Who should I contact for more information?

Send all questions to ChemSpider-at-rsc.org., where a member of our team will pick them up. Please do not directly contact individual team members – this could cause a delay in your question being responded to.