**EXHIBIT 31.1**

**CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICERPURSUANT TO SECTION 302(a) OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002**

I, Steven D.Goldby, Chief Executive Officer of Symyx Technologies, Inc., certify that:

1.                 I have reviewedthis Annual Report on Form 10-K of Symyx Technologies, Inc.;

2.                 Based on myknowledge, this annual report does not contain any untrue statement of amaterial fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statementsmade, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, notmisleading with respect to the period covered by this annual report;

3.                 Based on myknowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information includedin this annual report, fairly present in all material respects the financialcondition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, andfor, the periods presented in this annual report;

4.                 The registrant’sother certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintainingdisclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined inExchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for theregistrant and we have:

a)               designed suchdisclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls andprocedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that materialinformation relating to the registrant, including its consolidatedsubsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularlyduring the period in which this annual report is being prepared;

b)              designed suchinternal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control overfinancial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonableassurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparationof financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generallyaccepted accounting principles;

c)               evaluated theeffectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures andpresented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of thedisclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by thisannual report based on such evaluation; and

d)              disclosed in thisannual report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financialreporting that occurred during the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter that hasmaterially affected or is reasonably likely to materially affect the registrant’sinternal control over financial reporting; and ;

5.                 The registrant’sother certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recentevaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant’sauditors and the audit committee of registrant’s Board of Directors (or personsperforming the equivalent functions):

a)               all significantdeficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internalcontrols over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adverselyaffect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and reportfinancial information; and

b)              anyfraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees whohave a significant role in the registrant’s internal controls over financialreporting.

| Date: March 6, 2006 | By:    | /s/ STEVEN D. GOLDBY    |
|--------------------------|--------|-------------------------|
|                     |   | Steven D. Goldby        |
|                     |   | Chairman of the Board,  |
|                     |   | Chief Executive Officer |
|                          |        |                         |  |

 

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