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Organic Chemistry Lab 310 Fall 2023

This course guide was created for Dr. Ralf Warmuth's Organic Chemistry Lab 310, Fall 2023

Note: CAS Help hours changed

The CAS Help line is now open 8:00 am until 12:00 midnight ET, Monday through Friday. The number is 1-800-753-4227.

Register for CAS SciFinder-n

Here are the steps to creating your SciFinder account.

In order to access CAS SciFinder-n, you will first need to register with your netID. You must create the account from on campus, OR while using the Rutgers Libraries proxy link from off-campus, OR while using a Rutgers VPN.

Navigate to CAS SciFinder-n via the Libraries website: RUL home > Databases (under the Quicksearch box) > By title- C > CAS SciFinder-n. The direct link is:

https://www.libraries.rutgers.edu/databases/cas-scifinder-n

On this page, the first sentence says: New users, please create an account by registering with your Rutgers email address.Click on the word registering to be taken to the page where you may register for an account.

Once there, click next, accept the licensing agreement, and select Rutgers University New Brunswick for your campus. Click submit, and then fill out the registration using a valid Rutgers e-mail address. Create a username and password that are not your netID/password. You will receive instructions on how to complete your registration via e-mail. Follow the instructions and connect to CAS SciFinder-n by logging in with the username/password you created.

If you don't receive a confirmation email from CAS within 15 minutes of registering, check your junk folder. If the email isn't there, call the CAS Help Center at 1-800-753-4227 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight weekdays, and they will send you another email.

Browser and system requirements for SciFinder-n  can be found here: https://www.cas.org/solutions/cas-scifinder-discovery-platform/cas-scifinder/cas-scifinder-n/system-requirements

Please contact me at laura.palumbo@rutgers.edu if you need help accessing CAS Scifinder-n.

Follow these steps:

  1. Register for SciFinder-n following the instructions above. Log in to CAS SciFinder-n.
  2. View the training tutorials:

  3. Search for references. Suggestions are provided in the box below, Searching in CAS SciFinder-n. We will review this in your library session.
  4. Get the full text for your article by clicking on the Full Text dropdown at the bottom left of the article result (or bottom right of a reaction result), and then select Full Text Search. This will open a new window which will automatically look for full text in Rutgers journal subscriptions.
    Please note that not every article will be available in full text at Rutgers. See notes about getting full text below.
  5. Answer the questions for your assignment. Refer to the Searching in CAS SciFinder-n box.
  6. Use ACS Style. Click on the Citations tab, and follow the guidelines in the in the online References chapter or the Quick Guide to ACS Style provided on that page.

Searching in CAS SciFinder-n

  • For your assignment, you can draw the substance using the structure editor by clicking Substances tab at the top of the search box and the Draw button on the right side of the search box. You can use the default structure editor, or select ChemDoodle from the dropdown at the top left of the editor screen. When you are done drawing click OK, then click the magnifying glass button on the next screen. When you see the correct structure on the results page, click on it, and then select Synthesize from the menu on the left of the popup. Once you have a set of results, you can select the title of the articles associated with the reactions. You may want to limit your results to Document type > Journal by using the filters on the left.
  • If you know the name of a substance, click the Substances tab at the top of the search box, and then type it into the search box. You can also search by using using the CAS registry number, if known (better). Using the name of a substance may produce multiple similar results, so be sure that you select the correct one by checking the structure. One way to limit the results is to add the molecular formula to the second search box before clicking the magnifying glass.
  • Another way to find references is to click the References tab at the top of the search box. In general, you will want to get as many references as possible when starting a search in SciFinder-n, and then refine your search. You may refine by language, document type, or publication date, for example.
  • You can find articles by a particular author using References: Author Name in the second search box. It is better to search with first and middle names (if known) rather than initials; you will get fewer but more accurate results. Select the suggestion given by SciFinder-n as you type. To review how to do this, refer to Use Advanced Search to find authors
  • Getting full text: To get full text, click on the dropdown in the bottom left corner of a result. Then click on Full Text search. A new window will open with links to the article. (You may need to disable pop-up blockers.) If this doesn't happen, and instead you see a message that the article is not at Rutgers, you will need to get a copy through Inter-Library Loan. In this case you may want to choose another article as this could take more than a week.

If you need help, contact me at laura.palumbo@rutgers.edu.

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