IUPACs

IUPAC, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, is a global non-governmental organization that develops and promotes standard methods for naming chemical substances and for expressing chemical information.

Founded in 1919, it brings together national chemical societies and academies from around the world, with more than 60 member organizations. Its activities are carried out by divisions, commissions, and a governing General Assembly and Council, which coordinate the development and dissemination of recommendations.

IUPAC's work covers nomenclature for organic, inorganic, and organometallic chemistry; terminology, symbols, and units; and data standards, including chemical identifiers such as InChI. The organization seeks to harmonize how chemicals are named, described, and represented in literature, education, and databases.

Publications are a key part of IUPAC's published standards. Notable reference works include the Gold Book (Compendium of Chemical Terminology); the Blue Book (Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry); the Red Book (Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry); and the Green Book (Quantities, Units and Symbols in Physical Chemistry). IUPAC also coordinates the development of the International Chemical Identifier (InChI) and its hashed version InChIKey, which provide stable textual representations of chemical substances.

Impact and scope: IUPAC recommendations are widely used by researchers, publishers, and educators to ensure consistent naming and data presentation across scientific literature and databases. Their guidelines are voluntary and not legally binding, but they play a central role in global chemical communication and education.