CH2411 & CH2421 Organic Chemistry: CH2411 Session 2 - Scifinder

Scifinder is the primary resource for chemistry and related sciences with information that students will use throughout their studies. Information is retrieved from the Chemical Abstracts Service and MEDLINE. Generally, publications and other sources begin with 1907 – present. The five Chemical Abstracts Service databases included in SciFinder are:

• CAplus: patent and journal references covering important areas such as proteomics, genomics, biochemistry, organic, inorganic, physical, analytical and macromolecular. It also includes patents from the world’s major patient authorities and other literature including theses, conferences, book chapters and more.

• CAS Registry: substances from articles, patients, chemical catalogs and reputable Web sources from the 1800s to present including GenBank sequences, organic substances, inorganic, polymers, proteins and more with 12,000 new substances added daily.

• CASREACT: Single- and multi-step reactions consisting of structure diagrams and CAS Registry Numbers for all reactants, products, reagents, solvents and catalysts. Nearly 50,000 reactions added weekly.

• CHEMLIST: Chemical substances that are regulated in key markets world-wide, including chemical names, synonyms, regulatory lists including 13 national inventories and state lists.

• CHEMCATS: Commercially available chemicals and their suppliers including CAS Registry Number, supplier contact, inventory quantities, prices and compliance information.

Method #1

• Click on Explore Substances at the top of the screen.
• Click on Substance Identifier on the left side of the screen.
• Enter your compound name or CAS # and click Search.
• Verify that you’ve found the correct substance; click on Substance Detail for more information about the compound.
• Click Get Reactions at the top of the page or Reactions in the  body of the page
• Select Product as the reaction role
• To look for th first synthesis - scroll down to the earliest reaction listed (Note: avoid using theses, dissertations and review articles.)
• To view the full entry of a reference, including an abstract, click on the article title.
• To determine whether the library owns the journal, either click the Get Full Text button to retrieve the full text of the article, if the library owns it electronically, or conduct a Basic search by Journal Title in the Library Catalog.  If the library owns print volumes, the holdings and locations will be listed in the Catalog.  You can then click on HuskyFetch to determine whether the library also has electronic holdings.

Method #2

• Click on Explore Substances at the top of the screen.
• Click on Substance Identifier on the left side of the screen.
• Enter your compound name or CAS # and click Search.
• Verify that you’ve found the correct substance; click on Substance Detail for more information about the compound.
• Click on the link indicating the number of References to view the list of articles on the substance.
• In the window that appears, select Preparation from the "Limit results to" choices, then click the Get button.
• Since you’re looking for the first successful synthesis, scroll down to the bottom of the references list to view the oldest references. (Note: avoid using theses, dissertations and review articles.)
• This step may take some additional analysis, if you are not sure if the article you are looking at is describing the first successful synthesis of your compound, consult with your TA.
• To view the full entry of a reference, including an abstract, click on the article title.
• To determine whether the library owns the journal, either click the Get Full Text button to retrieve the full text of the article, if the library owns it electronically, or conduct a Basic search by Journal Title in the Library Catalog.  If the library owns print volumes, the holdings and locations will be listed in the Catalog.  You can then click on HuskyFetch to determine whether the library also has electronic holdings.