SciFinder (CAS)
Chemistry's authoritative discovery tool — substances, reactions, and the literature, from CAS.
At a Glance
- Publisher
- CAS (a division of the American Chemical Society)
- Coverage
Hundreds of millions of indexed substances and reactions plus the chemistry and related literature and patents, curated by CAS scientists (verify current counts).
- Access
Institutional subscription (SciFinder-n); training often required.
- Free alternative
- PubChem for substances; Google Scholar and Reaxys as the main paid rival.
- Regional
Global; the definitive chemistry discovery platform.
Our Take
SciFinder is chemistry’s flagship discovery tool — built on the CAS Registry, it lets you search not just the literature but substances and reactions themselves, by structure, substructure, or reaction, with human-curated indexing that is the gold standard in the field. For synthetic planning, patent searching, and comprehensive chemical literature reviews it is close to indispensable. The costs are real: an expensive subscription, a learning curve, and a proprietary CAS ecosystem. Use it as your primary structure- and reaction-search tool in chemistry; PubChem covers substances freely, and Reaxys is the main paid alternative.
Power Tips
- Search by structure and substructure, not just keywords — this is where SciFinder earns its keep.
- Use the reaction search and retrosynthesis tools for synthetic planning.
- Try PubChem first for a free substance lookup before spending a SciFinder query.
Alternatives & Complements
Reaxys, PubChem, Web of Science, Scopus
Figures last verified: June 15, 2026