9. The computer readable storage medium of claim 6 , wherein the standard notation is the simplified molecular input line entry specification (SMILES) notation and wherein each of the plurality of documents is selected from at least a chemical patent, a chemical research paper, and a chemical lab experiment document, wherein the plurality of different formats includes a molecular formula, a structural formula, an empirical formula, an industrial name, a trade name, and a household name; wherein the references to chemical compounds include a first chemical compound expressed using the molecular formula, a second chemical compound expressed using the structural formula, a third chemical compound expressed using the empirical formula, a fourth chemical compound expressed in terms of the industrial name, a fifth chemical compound expressed in terms of the trade name, and a sixth chemical compound expressed in terms of the household name.
6. A computer readable storage medium containing a program which, when executed, performs an operation for searching a plurality of documents which include references to chemical compounds, wherein the references to chemical compounds express the chemical compounds using a plurality of different formats, comprising: receiving the plurality of documents; receiving criteria specifying desired chemical characteristics; generating at least one regular expression based on the received criteria; evaluating chemical compounds referenced in the plurality of documents against the at least one regular expression to identify one or more of the plurality of documents that reference a chemical compound satisfying the received criteria.