Cambridge Structural Database System

This is the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) System software distribution site for the following UC campuses: Berkeley and LBNL, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, and Santa Cruz. Questions regarding access to CSD software should be directed to UC campus contacts.

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Select your campus below to obtain 2025 site codes and activation keys that will be needed to register the product after it is installed.

• Berkeley (UCB) // LBNL
• Los Angeles (UCLA)
• Riverside (UCR)
• Santa Cruz (UCSC)
• San Diego (UCSD)

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UPDATE for 2024! The latest version (as of January 2, 2024) of CSD 2023.3 is now available. To download it, go to https://www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk/support-and-resources/csdsdownloads/ and enter your email, customer number, and activation key, which you can access by selecting your campus from the list above. You will receive an email message from CCDC Sales Operations with links to all available download files. You can start by downloading CSD Portfolio Online Installer for your operating system. It is a small file and should download very quickly. Running the installer will download core packages and perform the actual installation on your system. The whole process may take several hours.

• If you need assistance, please check out CCDC's step-by-step video guide (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXfNhO0eV_o).
• See also: CSD Portfolio 23.3 Release Notes, https://www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk/media/release-installation-notes.pdf.
• Approximately 50 GB of free disk space will be required during installation. The minimum recommended RAM is 8GB. The software update mechanism can require more RAM to be available during the update activity.
• All documentation, including CSD manuals and tutorials: https://www.ccdc.cam.ac.uk/support-and-resources/documentation-and-resources/.

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Please read before downloading and using the Cambridge Structural Database

The CSD (Cambridge Structural Database) and CSD System (including downloaded data, manuals, results, and printed products) shall be used exclusively for the purpose of scientific teaching and research, which may include research such as for example, into drug development or drug modifications capable of commercial exploitation. The results of such research may be published through the normal academic channels, subject to the inclusion of a proper acknowledgment to the CCDC (Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre).

Acknowledgments: The following references should be quoted in all publications. Please follow the formatting as prescribed by your citation style.

• Cambridge Structural Database (general citation): The Cambridge Structural Database. C. R. Groom, I. J. Bruno, M. P. Lightfoot and S. C. Ward, Acta Cryst. (2016). B72, 171-179. DOI: 10.1107/S2052520616003954
• ConQuest: New software for searching the Cambridge Structural Database and visualizing crystal structures. I. J. Bruno, J. C. Cole, P. R. Edgington, M. Kessler, C. F. Macrae, P. McCabe, J. Pearson and R. Taylor, Acta Cryst., B58, 389-397, 2002. DOI: 10.1107/S0108768102003324
• Mercury: Mercury 4.0: from visualization to analysis, design and prediction. C. F. Macrae, I. Sovago, S. J. Cottrell, P. T. A. Galek, P. McCabe, E. Pidcock, M. Platings, G. P. Shields, J. S. Stevens, M. Towler and P. A. Wood, J. Appl. Cryst., 53, 226-235, 2020. DOI: 10.1107/S1600576719014092
• IsoStar: IsoStar: A library of information about non-bonded interactions. I. J. Bruno, J. C. Cole, J. P. M. Lommerse, R. S. Rowland, R. Taylor and M. L. Verdonk, J. Comput.-Aided Mol. Des., 11, 525-537, 1997. DOI: 10.1023/A:1007934413448
• More reference examples for CSD products.

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Please contact UC Technical Contact if you have any problems with this page.
Last updated Jan-2024