Reaxys is an advanced chemistry database that greatly facilitates access to information on substances, reactions and related data. Drawing on material from journal articles, patents and historical handbooks, it is an invaluable resource for synthesising and characterising compounds and for researching chemical properties.
Key features
Substance and reaction data: Reaxys covers chemical compounds with defined structures and molecular formulas. It includes experimental data, reaction pathways, and preparation methods.
Property search: Users can search for substances based on specific property values, such as melting points or UV absorption peaks.
Spectral data: Detailed spectral data (e.g. peaks and solvents) are available, but graphical spectra are not.
Patent coverage: The database contains selected chemical patents from worldwide sources, focusing on English-language patents since 1976.
Historical content: Data from the Beilstein and Gmelin handbooks provide comprehensive coverage of organic and inorganic literature from before 1960.
Using Reaxys
The database offers various search functions for targeted research:
Quick search: for simple queries such as CAS Registry Numbers or reaction details. The results include substances, reactions, and relevant literature.
Query builder: allows you to create specific and advanced searches by combining queries on substances, reactions, targets, bioactivities, etc.
Literature search: Clicking on the ‘Titles, Abstracts & Keywords’ tab in the Query builder allows you to perform bibliographic searches in journals, patents and other sources indexed in Scopus and Elsevier’s other databases.
Structure editor: You can use the Marvin JS structure editor to draw or edit chemical structures. Video tutorials and workflows are available on the Reaxys support page.
Predictive Retrosynthesis: This AI-powered tool is based on data from the Reaxys database. It enables the prediction of synthesis routes for both known and unknown small organic molecules.
Reaxys AI Search Beta: a literature search tool that understands natural language prompts. This feature requires registration (instructions).
Applications
Synthetic chemistry: identification of reaction pathways and preparation methods.
Material characterisation: access to physicochemical and spectral data for pure substances.
Literature research: searching primary literature and patents for chemical information.
Teaching: supporting students in their understanding of chemical properties and reaction mechanisms.
Tips
- Use CAS Registry Numbers or molecular formulas for precise searches.
- Combine property and substructure searches for more relevant results.
- Search for literature in CAS SciFinder to supplement your Reaxys search results.
You will need to register (free of charge) to use the personalisation functions. The University Library is not liable for the processing of your data by the provider.
Please pay attention to both the publisher’s and the university library’s terms of use.
Reaxys is accessible from anywhere on campus via unikat and DBIS (switch to English at the top of the page). University members can access it remotely via VPN. Please note: enter https://univpn.uni-graz.at/ub in the VPN address field.
Have you discovered our video tutorials on unikat, literature research and literature management? We also offer training courses during the semester. You can find more information under Support & Courses.
If you have any questions about this database, please contact ub.zeitschriften(at)uni-graz.at.