Searching for a chemical component

The chemical components search page allows you to search using five different parameters (Figure 2).

The first option on the search page is useful if you actually know the code of the small molecule you’re interested in, and the second if you know the molecule name. In both cases, changing the pull-down menu to the left of the input box from ‘=’ to ‘like’ means the search results will find hits containing the term you’ve input, rather than matching it exactly. So entering ‘MSE’ for example takes you straight to the chemical component page for selenomethionine.

The third option allows you to input the molecular formula into the search box, so searching for ‘C6 H12 O6’ will find all the hexose sugars. This search box defaults to formula range but you can also explicitly define a range. Inputting ‘C6-7 H12 O6’, for example, will find all those molecules containing six or seven carbons, twelve hydrogens and six oxygens.