C472 Exercise 1: SciFinder Scholar                                                                    Spring 2002

 

Questions 1 and 2 illustrate that SFS can be searched by corporate source.  Although the program is pretty good for identifying variant forms of entry for author names, it can't find all typing errors. 

1. Search for publications by Gary M. Hieftje. How many did you find?

2. Refine to those with Indiana in the corporate source field. How many did you find?

3. Search for pubs by Gary M. Hleftje How many did you find?.

4. What does this tell you about the accuracy of data entry in a large database like CA?

 

The next question shows that the research topic option allows an exact match of a phrase or a Boolean combination of the key concepts.  There are links in the database to the full texts of some of the articles. 

               

5. Research topic search for: rhodium-catalyzed intermolecular allylic etherification

This is a very specific search that retrieves only a few very relevant references. How many did you find for the concept as entered? for the concept?

  1. For the Organic Letters paper, choose the full text option and look at the HTML version. 
  2. Go the bibliography section at the end of the article and choose the "FullText - ACS" option for the JACS article listed as item 7.
  3. Choose the pdf version of this article and look at it onscreen.

 

The next question demonstrates that the bibliographies of articles are included in the CAPlus records.  It also  illustrates how to copy a  structure from the CAPlus portion of the database into the structure drawing template.  In addition, it  shows the use of the functional groups search option in structure searches.

                6. Research topic search on isatin and glycols. How many references included both concepts?

  Get the references and look at the full CAPlus record for the article that is titled: "Effect of Wrightia tinctoria on the brain monoamines and metabolites in rats."

  1. Look at all of the citations in the bibliography of the CAPlus Record.
  2. Select and copy the Registry Number for isatin in the indexing.  Do a structure search by pasting it into structure drawing, labeling it as a reagent or reactant, and including the functional group glycol in the search.  Get all reactions. How many did you find?
    Look at the record of the one that includes Dowex. What was the percent yield of the search?
    What database were we searching?

 

A Registry Number can be used to retrieve a structure.  The 3D model option is seen only if the plugin software WebLab Viewer Lite has been installed on your computer.

7. Search the Registry Number for 298220-31-2. What is the molecular formula for the substance retrieved?
Look at the 3D Model and view it in several display styles. 

 

This question illustrates the use of the current awareness feature of SciFinder Scholar for about 1600 journals.

8. Browse Table of Contents of Journal Titles and look for the most recent issue of Tetrahedron Letters. What volume and issue did you view?

 

This question shows the use of the Analyze feature.  It works well to refine an answer set.

9. Look for all of the publications of IUB faculty member P. Andrew Evans (select only this form of his name). Get the references and analyze the results by journal name to see where he has published.  What is the journal in which he has published most of his articles? 
Could this type of search be done for all of the Department of Chemistry Faculty Members at IUB at one time for the year 2000 to identify all journals in which they published articles?  If so, how would you do it?

 

 

The CAPlus file covers the chemical literature from 1907 to the present. This question requires you to find all of the publications of one of chemistry's giants.

10. Search the database for Linus Pauling as an author.   How many publications did Pauling have before 1946? What was the earliest?
after 1945?. What was the most recent?

 

This question illustrates an enhancement to the Web version of a new ACS journal that adds value to the print.

11. Link to Crystal Growth & Design (http://www.pubs.acs.org/journals/cgdefu/index.html) and link to any recent paper that has enhanced Web objects.  Look at some of them.  The plugin software CHIME is required in order to see the pictures. What enhanced object did you view?

 

 

A feature added to the CAS Registry File database in 2001 is the addition of 8 calculated property values to several million substance. This exercise lets you see what those are.

12. Do a chemical substance search for 91-56-5 and display the record.  What is the Molecular Weight and the logP of this substance?