Free database with chemical compounds and small molecular entities.
ChEBI comprises an ontological classification that specifies the relationships between molecular entities or classes of entities and their parents and/or children. The software uses nomenclature, symbolism, and terminology endorsed by international scientific bodies such as the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) and the Nomenclature Committee of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (NC-IUBMB).
It is important to note that molecules directly encoded by the genome such as nucleic acids, proteins, and peptides derived from proteins by cleavage are not included in ChEBI. To create ChEBI, data from a variety of sources have been incorporated and subjected to merging procedures to eliminate redundancy. Data from external sources have not been altered but enriched by information derived from manual annotation. Two of the main sources from which the data is drawn include IntEnz and KEGG COMPOUND.
ChEBI is detailed and shows a wide range of data fields. This includes the unique identifier, recommended name for use in biological databases, name with any special characters rendered in ASCII format, graphical representation(s) of a molecular structure and associated molfile(s), IUPAC International Chemical Identifier (InChI), SMILES strings, molecular formula, charge, mass, ChEBI Ontology parents and children with an option of a tree view of the position of the entry within the ChEBI Ontology, IUPAC name, International Nonproprietary Name (INN) assigned by the World Health Organization (WHO), synonyms, brand name, manually curated cross-references to other non-proprietary databases, and a registry number such as the CAS Registry Number, Beilstein Registry Number, and Gmelin Registry Number (if available).
In conclusion, ChEBI is licensed and provided under the terms of the Artistic License. It is a useful and comprehensive software for researchers and experts working in the field of chemical biology. It provides detailed and accurate data on small chemical compounds that intervene in the processes of living organisms.
Version R50: N/A