The history of CAS

The history of CAS

CAS originated from the Chemical Abstracts (CA), which was founded in 1907 by the American Chemical Society. CA aims to help scientists benefit from published work from peers around the world by tracking, abstracting, and indexing chemical-related literature around the world.

Over the years, CAS has evolved into a world authority in the field of chemical information, providing a fast access to the latest chemical and related scientific information to the global scientific community through databases such as CAS REGISTRY (substance database) and CAplus (literature database).

1907: Chemical Abstracts (CA) was launched in January 1907 by William A. Noyes was the first editor. In the first year after its publication, CA released no more than 12,000 abstracts. CA was originally released at the US Bureau of Standards. The office was then moved to the University of Illinois at Urbana.

1909: CA's editorial business is transferred to the Ohio State University campus in Columbus, Ohio.

1956: CA changed its name into American Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS).

1965: With the publication of the CAS Chemical Registration System, research has entered a new era. The system uses a unique CAS registration number to identify each chemical, eliminating the ambiguity associated with chemical nomenclature.

1966: The CAS management and technical team designed an automated processing system that not only produces printed CA journals and indexes more efficiently, but also provides a computer-readable database to create new services.

1980: CAS ONLINE is officially launched, and users (mainly information experts) are able to retrieve the CAS Registry substance database.

1983: ACS and FIZ Karlsruhe collaborate to build an international online network. This technology information network was named STN and was officially released the following year. With this network, users can access the database globally through distributed processing.

1988: STN Express software provides a desktop-assisted search tool that quickly became the preferred interface for STN users.

1995: the SciFinder search tool came out, which allowing scientists to access the CAS database directly without having to learn command language.

1997: CAS recognizes that the Internet can speed up and simplify access to source documents. ChemPort was introduced to CAS and STN e-services in 1997, providing full-text journal articles and links to patents found through online search.

2005: CAS continues to develop e-services, making scientific information more accessible and more practical. CAS and FIZ Karlsruhe launched STN AnaVist, which analyzes and visualizes search results from a variety of perspectives.

2007: CAS celebrates its 100th anniversary and is recognized by the American Chemical Society as a milestone in the history of ACS's national chemistry.

2008: The SciFinder web version is released, which provides users with more powerful search functions and instant access to CAS database content anytime, anywhere.

2009: The CAS REGISTRY Substance Database contains the 50 millionth substance, which is not only an important milestone for CAS, but also an important milestone for the entire scientific community.

2010: The US Patent Office signed a five-year business contract with CAS, designating STN as its sole source, and stated in its tender letter that “CAS's STN database provides the most comprehensive and in-depth chemistry and related information. One point is that other commercial network databases are unmatched. In addition, CAS is the only company that can use its STN Express software for unique, exclusive chemical structure searches. There are no other sources that successfully meet the USPTO’s demand."

2011: The CAS REGISTRY Substance Database contains the 60 millionth substance from a patent application filed with the National Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China. CAS has been concerned in 2009 that China has surpassed all other countries and has become the country with the most chemical patent applications. This important milestone has exceeded the 50 million species in the CAS REGISTRY Substance Database for less than two years, indicating that global chemical and scientific output is accelerating.

2012: CAS and FIZ Karlsruhe announce the release of a beta version of the first version of the new STN platform to fixed-paying customers. CAS also included 70 million substances from a treatment patent in Korea.

2013: CAS adds the 75 millionth substances from a chemical catalogue in the CAS REGISTRY substance database.

2014: CAS and PerkinElmer launched a joint research solution that combines SciFinder with ChemDraw software, the chemist's preferred drawing tool.

2015: On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the CAS REGISTRY Substance Database, CAS has included 100 millionth of the chemical substances in the world's largest database of unique chemical substances.

2016: CAS released three new solutions during the year: MethodsNow, ChemZent and SciFinder.