The Status Quo
Chemistry databases have existed for decades. PubChem launched in 2004. ChemSpider in 2007. CAS Registry has been around since the 1960s.
These are excellent resources. They contain millions of compounds with detailed data. Scientists rely on them daily.
But they all share one fundamental assumption: users know what they're looking for.
The Knowledge Gap
This assumption creates a barrier. Consider these users:
Students: Learning chemistry, want to explore how elements combine. They don't know formulas yet—that's what they're trying to learn!
Curious minds: Wondering what compounds exist with certain elements. No specific formula in mind.
Researchers (early stage): Exploring possibilities before diving deep. Need a quick survey of what exists.
None of these users are served by formula-based search.
The Search Engine Analogy
Imagine if Google only worked with exact matches. Want to find information about dogs? You'd need to type the exact title of a dog-related article. That would be absurd.
Yet that's exactly how chemistry databases work. Want information about carbon-oxygen compounds? You need to type "CO", "CO2", "C2O", and every other exact formula separately.
Our Solution
CompoundLookup is to chemistry what Google was to the early web: a way to explore without knowing exact answers in advance.
Select elements. See what exists. Discover.
This is how chemistry exploration should work.
The Future
We believe element-based search should be standard in chemistry education and research. We're working to make CompoundLookup the go-to tool for chemical discovery.
Formula-based search will always have its place. But now there's an alternative for when you want to explore the unknown.