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CHEM 348: Polymer Chemistry: Substance Searching

Intro to Substance Searching

The substance searching module in SciFinder is a great way to find reactions producing or implicating a particular substance. Once you have found the substance you are looking for in the CAS registry of substances, it is easy to find out more about it's chemical and physical properties, as well as connected literature, reactions, and syntheses. 

Structure Match

If you are searching for substances with draw tool, you will see a "Structure Match" facet at the top of the filter pane on the left-hand side of the screen.

  • Your substance structure will be highlighted blue in your search results
  • Choose "Substructure" search to see additional substances containing your structure
  • Choose "Similarity Search" to see substances with slight differences

Finding Reactions Producing your Substance

If you are looking to find information on reactions that produce a particular substance:

  • Search for the substance in the substance module
  • Click on the molecule diagram in the tile of your choosing
  • Click "Get Reactions" in the pop-up window. You will be be brought to a reaction search using this particular substance.
  • Then simply filter by "product" in the substance role facet to find reactions producing your desired substance.

Getting Started

  • Make sure you select the "Substance" tab. Once you are in this module, any query you use will search the CAS Registry of Substances.
  • Search for a specific substance, or class of substances, by using the substance's name, chemical formula, functional groups, or by drawing the substance using the draw tool on the right end of the search bar.
  • Once you have queried, you will be brought to a results page arranged with tiles each containing a form of the substance. Results most closely matching your query should show up at the top of the screen, but if you have used the draw tool, you may see various forms of the substance in other tiles.
    • Each tile will be marked with a unique CAS RN identifier that you can use to search for this substance later.

  • To learn more about a substance, click on the number (CAS RN) underlined at the top of the tile, OR click on the diagram of the substance itself.
    • Clicking on the diagram of the molecule will pull up a pop-up window with several linked options (pictured above)
      • "Get Substance Details" will bring you to the appropriate entry in the CAS Registry of Substances (more info below)
      • "Get Reactions" will bring you the CAS Registry of Reactions (Navigate to the "Reaction Searching" section for more information). 
      • Clicking on "Get References" will conduct a reference search of this substance.
        • This can be an amazingly precise way to search the literature for general information on a particular substance.
    • Clicking on the underlined CAS RN will bring you to the substance in the CAS Registry of Substances, and here you will find lots of information including:
      • Physical properties (including molecular weight, melting/boiling points, density, and pKa)
      • Experimental properties (with linked sources)
      • Experimental and predicted spectra
      • Hazard Statements
      • Pharmacological data (if applicable)

Other Useful Facets

  • Polymer class
    • Click "view all" to see all polymer classes represented in results set
  • Isotopes
    • Filter by substance containing or not containing isotopes
  • Stereochemistry
    • ​​​​​​​Filter by substances with or without stereo in filed structure
  • Functional Group
    • ​​​​​​​Click "View All" to see all functional groups represented in results set