The NFL edition of the Merck's Index was published in 1889 by the German chemical company Emanuel Merck and was primarily used as a sales catalog for Merck's growing list of chemicals it sold.[2] The American subsidiary was established two years later and continued to publish it. During World War I the US government seized Merck's US operations Merck & Co., forming a separate American company that continued to publish the Merck Index.
In 2012 the Merck Index was licensed to the Royal Society of Chemistry.[3] An online version of The Merck Index, including historic records and new updates not in the print edition,[1] is commonly available through research libraries. It also includes an appendix with monographs on organic named reactions.
The 15th edition was published in April 2013.
Monographs in The Merck Index typically contain:[1]
7th (1960) – first named editor is Merck chemist Paul G. Stecher[2]
8th (1968) – editor Paul G. Stecher
9th (1976) – editor Martha Windholz, a Merck chemist
10th (1983), Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). – editor Martha Windholz. In 1984 the Index became available online as well as printed.
11th (1989), Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
12th (1996), Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). – editor Susan Budavari, a Merck chemist
13th (2001), Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). – editor Maryadele O'Neil, senior editor at Merck
14th (2006), Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). – editor Maryadele O'Neil
15th (2013), Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value). – editor Maryadele O'Neil; first edition under the Royal Society of Chemistry[3]
