CHEM 212: Organic Chemistry II: Home

Can't find what you're looking for at Wellesley?

Use WorldCat Discovery to search and request directly from libraries worldwide via Interlibrary Loan.

Questions? Interlibrary Loan Guide

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay.

Chemists love to make their references as short as possible!  They also love abbreviations.  This can make things a little tricky when you are creating your reference section, or trying to interpret someone else's.  Here are some tools you can use to figure out those abbreviations.

• Name
  • You can use trade names, common names, or IUPAC names.
  • Databases that use chemical 'indexing' (like SciFinder) usually include results for alternative names for the same chemical
  • Searching by name in a more general database (like Web of Science) may get inconsistent results, since they don't include synonyms
• Molecular Formula
  • Very rarely useful to search, because there are so many chemicals with the same formula!
• Molecular Structure
  • Sometimes useful because it can allow you to do similarity searching and substructure searching. Sometimes it is overkill when you have a name (quicker).
• CAS Registry Number - best option if available!
  • If the tool you are using allows for CAS Registry Number, this will be your best bet.  CAS Registry Numbers are like social security numbers for chemicals. Names can change, molecular formulas can be shared, but CAS numbers are unique to that chemical!

These are some suggestions for tools you can use to do research on your drug.

Scientists communicate their work in a variety of ways. Here is some additional information:

Use this software to draw chemical structures. Draw professional looking structures for your lab reports, presentations, and Organic Chemistry II Paper!

These are some quick links to top-ranked journals, which are not meant to represent our entire collection. Check the catalog for more journals additional coverage.