Name to Structure Tool

In short: Enter a compound name and get the structure image, SMILES, formula, molecular weight, IUPAC name, and PubChem CID. It is free, works in your web browser and needs no download.

Enter a chemical name, common name, or IUPAC name to retrieve the matching structure image, SMILES, formula, molecular weight, and PubChem CID.

How Name to Structure Lookup Works

The tool resolves names through PubChem and then displays a 2D structure image with key metadata. Always verify salts, mixtures, stereochemistry, and ambiguous common names before using the result in publication or modeling workflows.

Which names work

The lookup accepts common names (caffeine, aspirin), systematic IUPAC names (1,3,7-trimethylpurine-2,6-dione), and many synonyms recorded in PubChem, including some trade names and abbreviations. The result shows the structure, SMILES, formula, molecular weight, and CID so you can confirm you found the right compound.

Avoiding the wrong match

• Ambiguous names: "xylene" can mean the ortho, meta, or para isomer, or a mixture. Use o-xylene or 1,2-dimethylbenzene to be specific.
• Salts: "metformin hydrochloride" and "metformin" are different records; choose the one that matches your sample.
• Stereoisomers: include (R)/(S) or D/L when it matters, for example L-alanine rather than alanine.
• Spelling: British and American spellings (sulphate/sulfate, aluminium/aluminum) usually both work, but typos will not.

Next steps: click Open in MolDraw to edit the structure, or copy the SMILES into converters such as SMILES to MOL. For candidates matching a formula, use Molecular Formula to Structure.