[Tex/LaTex] How to print a beta in TeX Gyre Termes text mode

fontsunicode

I have to write a document in Times. Therefore I started writing it in TeX Gyre Termes, based on the note on Time's font page. However, I use PDFLaTeX, so I can't directly type Greek characters. So if I want to write isopropyl-1-thio-β-D-galactopyranoside I need to type isopropyl-1-thio-$\beta$-D-galactopyranoside.

However, this puts the beta as italic (Which I need anyway, not bad) but lists it in a different font then the surrounding text. I noticed that Times ( \usepackage{mathptmx} ) is listed as math-compatible, while TeX Gyre Termes is not, so I switched packages and lo and behold my beta now works.

However, I noticed that if you look through Termes technical documentation it lists it as having a beta, in normal, italic, bold and bold italic. (Character 03B2 on page 10, section 3. Standard other unicodes 0080 .. DFFF (actually in 00A0 .. uni2AB0))

Some examples with a MWE:

\documentclass[letterpaper,12pt]{article}
\usepackage{tgtermes}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}

\begin{document}
Hey, look, a $\beta$, that doesn't match the text. 
\end{document}

tgtermes with a non-matching beta

And a better looking example:

\documentclass[letterpaper,12pt]{article}
\usepackage{mathptmx}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}

\begin{document}
Hey, look, a $\beta$, that better matches the text. 
\end{document}

A better looking beta from mathptmx

I thought \usepackage[utf8]{inputenc} would let me just type β and have it work, but no dice.

egreg also told me to try this:

\documentclass[letterpaper,12pt]{article}
\usepackage{tgtermes}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage{newunicodechar}
\newunicodechar{β}{\beta}


\begin{document}
Hey, look, a β that gives me gibberish
\end{document}

newunicodechar gives me gibberish

Which makes me wonder:
1) In what way is Termes better then Times if it isn't math-mode usable?
2) Can I use Times as my math-font and Termes as my body?
3) Can I get access to the 4 betas from Termes in PDFLaTeX?

Best Answer

A solution that integrates cgnieder's and rdhs's:

\documentclass[letterpaper,12pt]{article}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}

\usepackage{mathptmx}
\usepackage{tgtermes,chemmacros}
\usepackage[artemisia]{textgreek}
\usepackage{newunicodechar}

\ExplSyntaxOn
\cs_new_protected:Npn \IfInIupac #1 #2
  { \bool_if:NTF \l_chemmacros_inside_iupac_bool {#1} {#2} }
\ExplSyntaxOff

\newunicodechar{β}{\IfInIupac{\Chembeta}{\ensuremath{\beta}}}
\newunicodechar{ᴅ}{\IfInIupac{\D}{\textsc{d}}}

\begin{document}

\iupac{isopropyl-1-thio-β-ᴅ-galactopyranoside}

\end{document}

enter image description here

Other equivalences can be defined similarly. If the upright beta is needed also in text, the best way is, in my opinion, not to use it in math at all and change the definition into

\newunicodechar{β}{\Chembeta}