Editing Merck Index (section)

==History==
The first edition of the Merck's Index was published in 1889 by the German chemical company [[Merck Group|Emanuel Merck]] and was primarily used as a sales catalog for Merck's growing list of chemicals it sold.<ref name="acscinf.org"/> The American subsidiary was established two years later and continued to publish it. During World War I the US government seized Merck's US operations and made it a separate American "Merck" company that continued to publish the Merck Index.

In 2012 the Merck Index was licensed to the [[Royal Society of Chemistry]].<ref name= acq>{{Cite press release |url= http://www.rsc.org/AboutUs/News/PressReleases/2012/RSC-acquires-Merck-Index.asp|title= RSC acquires Merck Index| website= RSC.org|language=en|access-date= 7 January 2015}}</ref> An online version of The Merck Index, including historic records and new updates not in the print edition,<ref name=db-intro>{{cite web |title= Database Introduction | website= RSC.org |url=https://www.rsc.org/Merck-Index/info/rsc-database-introduction}}</ref> is commonly available through research libraries. It also includes an appendix with monographs on organic [[named reaction]]s.

The 15th edition was published in April 2013.

Monographs in ''The Merck Index'' typically contain:<ref name=db-intro />
* a [[CAS registry number]]
* synonyms of the substance, such as [[trivial name]]s and [[International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry nomenclature]]
* a [[chemical formula]]
* [[molecular weight]]
* [[percent composition]]
* a [[structural formula]]
* a description of the substance's appearance
* [[melting point]] and [[boiling point]]
* [[solubility]] in [[solvent]]s commonly used in the laboratory
* citations to other literature regarding the compound's [[chemical synthesis]]
* a therapeutic category, if applicable
* caution and hazard information