CCDC partner InhibOx have announced the release of Scopius-CSpace v6, the world’s largest available curated 3D compound and fragment database.

For further information read the full press release

An update for the CSD System is now available that addresses some technical issues with both Mercury and PreQuest. This update will upgrade Linux, Mac OSX and Windows Mercury 3.0 installations to version 3.0.1. For Windows CSD System installations, it will also update PreQuest. The update contains the following features:

• Corrected ability to set proxy server settings in IsoStar settings to prevent long start up times [13539]
• [Windows CSD System Only] Resolved issue with erroneous superscripts appearing in 2D edit mode in PreQuest

CellCheckCSD version 1.0.2 was released to users this week including a data update bringing the number of searchable entries to over 600,000.

The program is a free command-line tool for performing crystal structure reduced cell checks against the CSD that is accessible through the Agilent software package CrysAlisPro. This free service has now been available from the CCDC website for 6 months and has already attracted greater than 250 users across 46 countries worldwide.

The software is continuing to save diffractometer and scientist time as attested to by Gary Nichol (Crystallography Service Manager, University of Edinburgh):

“I'm very impressed, both with the speed of the search and the ease of access to the results. On several occasions I've identified known compounds in less than 30 seconds from the shutter opening. It takes longer to mount the crystal! I can't see why anyone would not want to have it installed as part of their CrysAlisPro software.”

CellCheckCSD can be downloaded free of charge once a simple registration step has been completed. Please note that as a free service, CCDC may be unable to provide support for CellCheckCSD.

The first CSD data update for the 2012 release of CSDS v533/ConQuest 1.14, with 16320 new entries, is now available.

This update can be obtained via the auto-update mechanism built into Mercury - to do so, start Mercury and select Help -> Check for Updates and follow the prompts to install. Alternatively, the update can be download from the following URL:

www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk/products/csd_system/conquest/csd_updates/.

To receive email notification of when a new database update is available subscribe to our mailing list.

Yesterday's update to WebCSD took the total number of structures in the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) to over 600,000. The rate of structure deposition continues to rise and more than 2,500 structures have already been processed since the start of the year. Many thanks to all those who continue to contribute structures to this unique and important resource.

Nominations for the CCDC Chemical Crystallography Prize for Younger Scientists, 2012 are now being accepted.

Nomination forms can be obtained from the BCA CCG secretary Louise Male (l.male@bham.ac.uk) or CCG chair Hazel Sparkes (h.a.sparkes@durham.ac.uk) and all nominations must be sent before 5pm on Friday the 20th January 2012. Nominees must be under 35 years of age on the 1st of January 2012 and either be from the United Kingdom or have carried out the majority of their research within the UK.

Full details of the prize and terms and conditions can be found here.

Come and speak with our editors, developers and research scientists at events around the globe. Our 2012 meetings and events programme is available here.

The CSD now contains 596,810 entries and 361 prolific authors have each deposited more than 500 structures. View CSD statistics for the year ending 2011 here.