The resource already covers nearly 50 procedures for synthesising complex molecules, and is fully searchable and publicly accessible.

Additional procedures, known as protocols, will be added as they are developed by the teams of researchers working scientists at BU's Centre for Chemical Methodology and Library Development (CMLD).

The protocols are a direct product of CMLD's aim of developing syntheses for complex compounds and to build libraries of the complex structures made by coupling these compounds.

"The CMLD programme is focused on the development of methodologies for making diverse, high-quality chemical libraries that are needed for research on biological processes and even for drug discovery," says John Schwab, the chemist at the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, who directs the initiative.

"Clearly, the programme will have the greatest impact if the results are made broadly available."

The software underpinning the effort has been developed by Synthematix, which provides chemistry reaction planning tools for synthetic chemists.