CAS Hits 50 Million Compounds

Over the weekend, the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) registered its 50 millionth compound! Only 9 months ago they hit 40 million compounds. This stuff is so new that it isn't listed in PubChem of ChemSpider yet. For comparison, it took 33 years for CAS to record the first 10 million compounds.

According to the press release at CAS:

"The 50 millionth substance (CAS Registry Number 1181081-51-5) was uncovered by CAS scientists from the Examples section of a nearly 200-page patent issued by the World Intellectual Property Organization on August 13, 2009. According to the patent, "Few therapeutics are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory agencies for the treatment of neuropathic pain." To address this concern, a series of novel arylmethylidene heterocycles were synthesized, which included the most recent substance registered by CAS."

Check out the full press release at: 50 Millionth Unique Chemical Substance Recorded in CAS REGISTRY