[5] The organization also publishes textbooks, administers several national chemistry awards, provides grants for scientific research, and supports various educational and outreach activities.

The ACS has been criticized for predatory pricing of its products (SciFinder, journals and other publications), for opposing open access publishing, as well as for initiating numerous copyright enforcement litigations despite its non-profit status and its chartered commitment to dissemination of chemical information.

[9] Charles F. Chandler, a professor of chemistry at Columbia University who was instrumental in organizing the society said that such a body would "prove a powerful and healthy stimulus to original research, ... would awaken and develop much talent now wasting in isolation, ... [bring] members of the association into closer union, and ensure a better appreciation of our science and its students on the part of the general public.

[10] In the ACS logo, originally designed in the early 20th century by Tiffany's Jewelers and used since 1909,[11] a stylized symbol of a kaliapparat is used.

[9] In 1905, the American Chemical Society moved from New York City to Washington, D.C. ACS was reincorporated under a congressional charter in 1937.

[9] ACS first established technical divisions in 1908 to foster the exchange of information among scientists who work in particular fields of chemistry or professional interests.

Divisional activities include organizing technical sessions at ACS meetings, publishing books and resources, administering awards and lectureships, and conducting other events.

The Division's best known activities include organizing symposia (talks and poster sessions) at the biannual ACS National Meetings, for the purpose of recognizing promising Assistant Professors, talented young researchers, outstanding technical contributions from junior-level chemists,[50] in the field of organic chemistry.

Local sections also provide professional development opportunities for members, organize community outreach events, offer awards, and conduct other business.

[58] There are currently 186 local sections of the American Chemical Society in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

[59] International Chemical Sciences Chapters allow ACS members outside of the U.S. to organize locally for professional and scientific exchange.

[82] The GCI was founded in 1997 as an independent non-profit organization, by chemists Joe Breen and Dennis Hjeresen in cooperation with the Environmental Protection Agency.

The ACS established The American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund and the previous trust was dissolved.

The site houses information on hundreds of scholarships and grants related to all levels of experience to promote scientific mobility of researchers and practitioners in STEM fields.

[93] The Georgia Local Section of ACS has awarded the Herty Medal since 1933 recognizing outstanding chemists who have significantly contributed to their chosen fields.

[94] All chemists in academic, government, or industrial laboratories who have been residing in the southeastern United States for at least 10 years are eligible.

[95] The Leadership Awards are the highest honors given by the Chemical Marketing and Economic Group of ACS NY since December 6, 2012.

They are presented to leaders of industry, investments, and other sectors, for their contributions to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) initiatives.

Honorees include Andrew N. Liveris (Dow Chemical),[96] P. Roy Vagelos (Regeneron, Merck),[97] Thomas M. Connelly (DuPont)[96] and Juan Pablo del Valle (Mexichem).

"[103] The ACS has generally opposed legislation that would mandate free access to scientific journal articles and chemical information.

[105] In 2006, Congress debated legislation that would have instructed the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to require all investigators it funded to submit copies of final, peer-reviewed journal articles to PubMed Central, a free-access digital repository it operates, within 12 months of publication.

[106][107] At the time the American Association of Publishers (of which ACS is a member) hired a public relations firm to counter the open access movement.

In response to a 2013 White House Office of Science and Technology Policy directive that instructed federal agencies to provide greater access to federally funded research, the ACS joined other scholarly publishers in establishing the Clearinghouse for the Open Research of the United States (Chorus) to allow free access to published articles.

[115] In 2005, the ACS was criticized for opposing the creation of PubChem, which is an open access chemical database developed by the NIH's National Center for Biotechnology Information.

[121] The ACS is also the only provider of a major scientific publication database (SciFinder) that imposes a restriction on the number of records that can be exported.