Transcript Chemistry 231

Finding Information
on Chemical Compounds
Anne Turhollow & Marilyn Hall
Library & Information Access
Spring 2007
Class Web Page
• infodome.sdsu.edu
• Research
• Research Guides
 Researching a topic by class assignment
• Chemistry 231
 Please bookmark this page
Contents of Lecture
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What are chemists looking for?
Where to look?
Chemical Names
Web of Science
SciFinder Scholar
Other resources
Assignment Summary
• Web of Science
• SciFinder Scholar
• Factual source from class web page
Robert Tomaszewski,
Georgia State University
Libraries
Information Searches
• What you use depends on the type of
information you need
• Factual information
 Physical data, Spectra
• Research Literature
 Synthetic pathways, function and structure,
pharmacokinetics
Information Sources
• Factual information
 Handbooks, encyclopedias
• Research Literature
 Periodical indexes and databases
• Can be print or electronic
• Access method based on organization’s
resources
Why not Google?
• Easy to use
• But what about the junk?
 Google Scholar
• Hard to specify
• Try looking for a chemical compound
How do we identify a chemical?
• Brand name
 Aero,Hicophor PR, Pluragard
• Trivial name
 Melamine
• Structural name
 1, 3, 5-Triazine-2, 4, 6-triamine
 2, 4, 6-triamino-s-triazine
How do we identify a chemical?
• Formula – C3H6N6
• CAS RN – 108-78-1
• Structural drawing
Research Literature
• Article Databases, Periodical Indexes,
Index and Abstracting Services
• Web of Science
• SciFinder Scholar
Web of Science
• Multidisciplinary database indexing over
7000 journals
• Heavy emphasis on science
• Includes 800 chemistry journals
• Goes back to 1900
Web of Science
• Can search by author, keyword, or cited
reference
• Very tricky to search by chemical name
(no control of names)
• Formula searches are also very difficult
Using Web of Science
Chemical Abstracts (CA)
• Indexes 9,000 journals plus patents, theses,
technical reports, conference papers, books
• International and multidisciplinary in coverage
• Can search by author, topic, chemical formula or
name, structure
• Goes back to 1907
• Part of an online system called “SciFinder
Scholar”
SciFinder Scholar
• 6 inter-linked databases
• CAplus – Chemical Abstracts; includes
some pre-1907 material
• Medline – references to the medical
journal literature from 1950s to present
SciFinder Scholar
• CAS Registry – basic information on ~27
million compounds
• CASREACT – information on over 8
million single and multi-step reactions
• CHEMLIST – regulated chemicals
• CHEMCATS – catalog of commercially
available compounds and their suppliers
SciFinder Scholar
• Requires additional software
• Can only be searched on campus
• Limit of two users
Using SciFinder Scholar
What Else is There?
• Many free and fee based sources
• Class web page
 http://infodome.sdsu.edu/research/guides/clas
s/chem231.shtml#data
Factual/Name Sources
• Merck Index
 RS51.M4 1996 Ref Desk
• Dictionary of Organic Compounds
 QD246.D53 1996 Ref
• ChemIDPlus
 http://chem2.sis.nlm.nih.gov/chemidplus/chem
idlite.jsp
Questions?