Chemistry — IUPAC nomenclature and term harmonization

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry maintains several authoritative vocabularies: the Gold Book (terminology), the Colour Index (dyes and pigments), and numerous nomenclature recommendations for compounds, elements, and reactions. Each has distinct terminology work needs.

The problem

Chemistry terminology is unusually designation-heavy:

Multiple designation types per concept — Every compound has a systematic name (IUPAC nomenclature), a common name, often a trade name, plus a molecular formula and a structural formula. All are designations of the same concept.
Strict appellations — Color names (e.g. “C.I. Acid Red 1”) are appellations, not generic terms. ISO 704:2022 §7.3.3 categorizes appellations as designations of unique entities.
Multi-script chemical names — A compound’s name in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Arabic all refer to the same molecule; structural formulas are language-independent.
Term history — Old names like oil of vitriol (sulfuric acid) are still encountered but deprecated. ISO 704:2022 §7.1 requires recording the temporal sequence of designations.

The Glossarist solution

Multiple designations per concept

termid: "iupac:sulfuric-acid"
status: valid

localizations:
  eng:
    language: eng
    terms:
      - type: expression
        designation: sulfuric acid
        normative_status: preferred
        term_type: full_form
      - type: expression
        designation: oil of vitriol
        normative_status: deprecated
        term_type: historical
        dates:
          - type: deprecated
            date: "1950-01-01"
            source: "IUPAC nomenclature reform"
      - type: formula
        designation: H₂SO₄
        normative_status: preferred
        term_type: formula
    definition:
      - type: intensional
        content: "A strong mineral acid composed of sulfur, oxygen, and hydrogen."

See Designations for the designation model and Term Types for the full term_type enumeration.

Appellations for Colour Index entries

Colour Index appellations follow ISO 704:2022 §7.3.3 — they’re designations of unique commercial/industrial entities:

termid: "ci:14745"
status: valid
localizations:
  eng:
    terms:
      - type: appellation
        designation: "C.I. Acid Red 1"
        normative_status: preferred
      - type: expression
        designation: "Acid Red 1"
        normative_status: admitted
    definition:
      - type: intensional
        content: "An azo dye used as a colorant in food, cosmetics, and textiles."

Structural formula as non-verbal representation

non_verbal_representations:
  - type: structural_formula
    content: "structures/sulfuric-acid.svg"
    description: "H₂SO₄ — two hydroxyl groups bonded to a central sulfur atom with two double-bonded oxygens"

See Non-verbal Entities for the model.

Cross-language nomenclature

IUPAC publishes in English (preferred source) plus UN languages. Compound names are often transliterated rather than translated:

localizations:
  eng:
    terms:
      - designation: acetic acid
        normative_status: preferred
      - designation: ethanoic acid
        normative_status: admitted
        term_type: systematic_name
  zho:
    terms:
      - designation: 醋酸
        normative_status: preferred
        term_type: common_name
      - designation: 乙酸
        normative_status: admitted
        term_type: systematic_name
  jpn:
    terms:
      - designation: 酢酸
        normative_status: preferred
        term_type: common_name

Term formation history (ISO 704:2022 §7.1)

ISO 704:2022 §7.1 requires recording the temporal sequence of designations. Glossarist’s dates array on each designation captures this:

terms:
  - type: expression
    designation: sulfuric acid
    normative_status: preferred
    dates:
      - type: accepted
        date: "1957-01-01"
        source: "IUPAC 1957 nomenclature"
  - type: expression
    designation: sulphuric acid
    normative_status: deprecated
    term_type: variant
    dates:
      - type: accepted
        date: "1800-01-01"
      - type: deprecated
        date: "1990-01-01"
        source: "IUPAC spelling standardization to 'sulfur'"

Results

Metric	Before Glossarist	With Glossarist
Designation history auditability	Per-edition prose	Structured `dates[]` per designation
Cross-language name alignment	Manual per release	Localizations map enforces structural parity
Appellation vs term distinction	Conflated	Distinct `term_type: appellation` per ISO 704 §7.3.3
Structural formula preservation	Per-PDF	Non-verbal representations indexed alongside terms
SKOS publication	Per-release manual export	Auto-generated RDF

Try it

The Gold Book dataset is included in the concept-browser demo. Search for “acid” to see hundreds of designations with historical context.