The ZINC database of commercially available compounds contains biologically relevant representations of purchasable compounds in ready-to-screen formats. ZINC uses catalogs from over 50 compound vendors, changing from time to time to reflect newly available compounds and depleted stock. ZINC is available in subsets that reflect current opinion in the field such as "fragment-like" and "lead-like," and has a facility to create additional small ad hoc subsets. ZINC has a search facility, as well as a service to process molecules that are not in ZINC by uploading them to a server. Copyright 2008 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.