Welcome to www.InChI.info, website dedicated to the International Chemical Identifier aka InChI. On this page you can find information about this new chemical identifier, links to various InChI enabled software and online tool for conversion from and to InChI.

InChI was developed in cooperation of IUPAC and NIST and is the newest way of describing chemical structures in text. It is continuously gaining popularity in the chemical informatics community as it has several very interesting features. These are more thoroughly reviewed on the following pages: overview of InChI features and comparison of InChI to other formats.

In 2007 InChI got a smaller brother, InChIKey. This InChI derived format is described in more detail here and is also discussed in the comparison of InChI to other formats.

The whole www.inchi.info site is under constant development and should be considered “beta”. Please do not hesitate to report any errors, old or missing information or suggestions to the authors of this site. The contact info is here.

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News

• 2009-02-09 – BKBlog:I started my personal blog to share random news and ideas related to InChI, BKChem, OASA, cheminformatics, etc.
• 2009-01-30 – converter update:The InChI.info converter how uses both standard InChI and InChIKey.Because the InChIKey no longer contains a checksum character and it is not yet clear how non-standard InChIKey will look, the InChIKey checker and InChIKey generator has been discontinued (you can generate InChIKey from InChI using the converter.
• 2009-01-30 – standard InChI is here:The InChI team has released a new version of the InChI software – 1.02 final. It introduces a long awaited “standard InChI” – InChI created with a standard set of options, without the possibility of adjustments to include/exclude particular type of information in the format. This should lead to better interoperability of InChI based systems.Together with standard InChI, standard InChIKey was also introduced. It is slightly different from the previous incarnation of InChIKey – it has 27 rather than 25 characters and uses a different encoding of “metadata” (last few characters). There is no checkum character, but rather the version of InChIKey and its standard/non-standard property are clearly indicated.You can read more about the new InChI and InChIKey in the above linked release notes.
• 2008-06-05 – converter update:The OASA library which is responsible for the functionality of the converter was updated. The new version produces much nicer pictures and is also capable of partially handling double bond stereochemistry in SMILES and atom coordinate generation.
• 5.10.2007 – more info on InChIKey:A new page on InChIKey was added. It contains some basic information as well as comparison of InChI and InChIKey. InChIKey was also added to the
  comparison of InChI to other formats.
• 14.9.2007 – InChIKey introduction:There is a new InChI related format available – the InChIKey. It was released as part of the beta version of InChI 1.02. It is a fixed length identifier based on hash of a corresponding InChI string. It has several advantages over InChI for online publication, but unlike InChI is not readable.As part of our effort to bring InChI to the masses, we have prepared two new online services – InChIKey checker that validates an InChIKey using its internal error detection mechanism and InChI to InChIKey converter that generates InChIKey from InChI strings.We will bring more info about InChIKey and our services in the next few days.
• 15.2.2007 – update of the InChI.info site:I have added a valuable feature to the converter – automatic naming of the submitted compounds. To find out more about this feature and its implementation, read this article.
• 31.8.2006 – news from the InChI world:Most important InChI news in the last few months was certainly the release of version 1.01 of the official InChI software. This release brings the possibility of conversion of InChI back to other chemical formats (without atomic coordinates).On www.InChI.info I have updated the software page to include the CACTVS toolkit.
• 25.4.2006 – what happened in the last 3 months:Because I did not have much time for www.InChI.info in the last few weeks, I would at least like to summarize what is recently happening in the InChI world and on www.InChI.info.There is an active discussion going on on the inchi-discuss mailing list about possible ways to ensure integrity of InChI strings when transported through media like e-mail or wiki pages. This is certainly a problem for larger molecules, because the InChI string can easily span over several lines and certain programs break the string by inserting end-of-line characters into it. Eyelash Extension FAQs I have updated the converter slightly to take care of some specific cases where it failed. I have also updated the section InChI software with two new additions – OpenBabel and PubChem Server Side Editor..
• 25.1.2006 – www.InChI.info opened:After more than a month of work, www.InChI.info has reached the state where I consider it ready.

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Other Research Topics

Economics and Finance

You’ve heard the word economics tossed around in forms of media from TV shows, to newspaper and radio, but most often, the general population doesn’t have an understanding of what it is. In short, the term “Economics” refers to the study of how the economy works. Still not clear? Start here and then continue!

Recent geopolitcal events around the world has caused a shift in the price of oil around the world from the end of 2014 and into the beginning of 2015. As nations begin to increase their production, the move causes an increase in supply. This supply means that there are more companies competing to earn a customers purchase. How do they compete? By lowering their prices. This is a simple way of looking at the process of how economics and finance come into play. To further evaluate the economics of this scenario, we can look and evaluate some finance research in the spinoff effects around the world. An interesting article on oil politics here.

In countries that produce oil and rely heavily on it for their economy, the dropping commodity price is a bad thing. In places like Canada, they have seen their currency drop nearly 25% in value compared to the US dollar during this drop in oil. Bad for most consumers who rely on imports from the US. Good for the Canadian companies who ship goods to the United States such as the forestry industry, who’s products have suddenly become cheaper for Americans to buy.

For more on the dropping oil prices and it’s effects on Canada, the Bank of Canada has released a helpful piece here, feel free to read more.
Economics can be further broken down into two individual fields of study, both of which may be of interest for further review. Microeconomics evaluates behaviours of individuals and small business as prices shift, and how supply and demand then change in response.
Meanwhile, Macroeconomics takes a look at an economy at a whole, such as total output, unemployment, inflation, investment, etc. While Micro looks at isolated scenarios and how it affects one person or household, macroeconomics evaluates how things impact the entire national or global economy as a whole. For more information on Macroeconomics, Investopedia is a great resource. And for more information if you are interested in Microeconomics, a great resource is the Khan Academy. An even more local perspective can be found at CEO On Demand or Financial Planner Melbourne – for local and individuals.

As you continue to learn more about economics, it will only help you continue with your own finance research and become a better purchaser, investor, and saver!

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The Solar Energy Industry

Solar energy or solar power is becoming a common source of power due to the fact that it’s the most cost effective and most abundant energy source on earth. Simply put, solar power is energy harnessed from the sun, and it’s not only clean, but also free and renewable. The amount of energy that nature provides to mother earth every day can power the entire world and all of endless needs for an entire year. Because solar energy is readily available when the sun is available, it’s said to be a renewable source of power. In addition, it’s a clean source of power because it doesn’t produce pollutants or byproducts that can harm the world.

Application of solar energy:

Residential Solar: The number of solar panels or PV installations for residential homes connected to the electricity grid has been increasing over the years. Government subsidy programs, especially in Japan and Germany, as well as green pricing policies of electricity service providers have increased demand. Demand has also increased due to desire of individuals to obtain their energy from a non-pollutant, renewable and clean source. People are willing to pay a small fee for renewable energy.

Solar energy connected to the national grid supplies power to buildings and any extra power is exported to the national grid. Batteries are not needed because the national grid supplies any extra requirements. However, for those who aren’t connected to the grid, battery is required to provide energy during the night.

Vacation or holiday homes without electricity grid are also accessing energy through solar energy systems – it is cheaper than having the national grid extend to their location. Remote homes in sunny areas are obtaining reliable power to meet their needs with as simple solar system comprising of rechargeable battery for storing the energy harnessed during the day, PV panel, regulator and the necessary switches and wiring. This system is known as solar home system.

Industrial: For many decades, solar power has been the energy supply choice for most industrial applications, particularly where energy is needed at remote places. Because it’s highly reliable and need minimal maintenance, solar energy is perfect for isolated or distant places.

In addition, solar power is often used for transport signaling like lighthouses, navigation buoys, aircraft warning light signs and also road traffic warning signs. It is also used to power corrosion protection systems and environmental monitoring tools for pipelines, bridges, well-heads, and other structures.

Other applications: Commercial – for office, factories, warehouses, etc. Remote uses – for schools, clinics, community halls, water pumps, etc.