Meeting the Google Expectation for Chemical Safety Information

Imagine a scenario in an academic research lab: you are working on a chemical system that has not yet been well characterized, perhaps looking at new catalysts, trying new reagent combinations, or scaling up a new reaction for more sample. How might you gauge the reactivity potential against the equipment and procedures in place to ensure control is maintained? How do you identify critical points in the system where subtle or even inadvertent changes in condition or operation could send things awry, possibly becoming dangerous? How do you assess the potential hazards of untried chemistry? Is there any helpful information readily available at your fingertips? Would a search engine as accessible as Google be able to turn up appropriate data for such scenarios?