Skip to Quick Links BarSkip to Page Content
NCSU Libraries
Search the Collection
Browse Subjects
Services
Library Information
Community
News & Events
Services
Get Answers Now

Home: CHEM 223

Getting Started
Basic searching tips
Discussion
More help

Physical and Chemical Properties
Resource details

Hazardous Properties
Resource details

Preparation or Synthesis
Resource details

Spectral Information
Resource details

Chem223 course web page

NCSU Libraries Chemistry subject page

General Organic Chemistry Resources

CHEM 223: Organic Chemistry

Librarian: Josh Wilson

See your lab notebook for more information on the literature searching assignment and the Library resources you will use. Please read this section before visiting the Library.

NEW!! Check the CH223L page on the PAMS wiki.

Word Chem223 Library Assignment Guide for Students

Word Blank literature search report form

Use this site to find specific resources for locating your chemical, its synthesis, and properties. The quick reference guide (distributed in class, downloadable in MS Word format above, and available at the library reference desk) should provide you with enough resource ideas to complete the assignment. Some chemicals will be challenging or more obscure, and it will be more difficult to find information, so you may need other alternative resources other than those on the quick reference guide.

Feel free to contact your librarian if you need help!

Read the Getting Started page for tips, discussion (which answers, among other things, "Why can't you just use Google or Wikipedia for this assignment?"), and help on the literature searching assignment. Click on any "Resource details" page for extra help and explanations of particular resources.

Physical and Chemical Properties

Click on individual title to link to electronic resources, or details about print resources.

  1. Aldrich: Advancing Science (Aldrich Catalog Handbook of Fine Chemicals)
    D. H. Hill Reference TP202 .A42
    ALSO: Copies held in several Fox building labs
    ALSO: On the web at http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/

  2. Wikipedia?
    Nope. Don't use it for this assignment. It's debatable whether Wikipedia is a good source for chemistry information. You might find your chemical there. Sometimes it does have thorough information that has been reviewed by actual chemists. But you never know. Consider a couple of things. First, if you're working with potentially hazardous chemicals, do you really want to trust your personal safety and the lab you work in to Wikipedia, a source that could be edited by anyone at any time? And second, even in cases the information is available and reliable, it is actually gathered from other (more established, respected, and professionally edited) sources, including those on this list. So use them instead.

  3. ChemNetBase
    Online via NCSU Libraries subscription
    More information about this resource

  4. Merck Index
    Online via NCSU Libraries subscription
    D. H. Hill Reference RS51 .M4

  5. CRC Handbook of Chemistry & Physics
    D. H. Hill Reference QD65 .C4 (Most recent edition in Reference area; other editions on 6th floor)
    Available electronically through ChemNetBase

  6. Dictionary of Organic Compounds
    D. H. Hill Reference QD246 .D5 (9 volumes)
    Available electronically through ChemNetBase

  7. Handbook of Data on Organic Compounds (CRC)
    D. H. Hill Reference QD257.7 H36 (6 volumes)

  8. PubChem
    Available through the NIH and NLM
    More information about this resource

  9. ChemFinder
    Online at: http://chemfinder.camsoft.com/
    More information about this resource

  10. ChemExper
    Online at: http://www.chemexper.com/
    More information about this resource

Other useful databases for chemical property information are available through the NCSU Libraries Chemistry subject page (Try Knovel Scientific and Engineering Databases, NIST Webbook, or DIPPR for more property data.)

null Top of Page

Hazardous Properties

Click on individual title to link to electronic resources, or details about print resources.

  1. NCSU MSDS Management System
    More information about this resource

  2. Sax's Dangerous Properties of Industrial Materials
    Online via NCSU Libraries subscription
    Also in print - D. H. Hill Reference T55.3 .H3 L494
    More information about this resource

  3. Merck Index
    Online via NCSU Libraries subscription
    D. H. Hill Reference RS51 .M4

  4. TOXNET
    Available online through the NLM

  5. Sigma-Aldrich Library of Chemical Safety Data - abbreviated Safety in Aldrich Catalog
    D. H. Hill Reference T55.3 H3 S54

  6. Sigma-Aldrich Library of Regulatory & Safety Data - abbreviated R & S in Aldrich Catalog
    D. H. Hill Reference T55.3 .H3 S55

  7. ChemIDplus
    Available through the NIH and NLM
    More information about this resource

  8. Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances - abbreviated RTECS
    Some in D.H. Hill Library stacks, some in microform

null Top of Page

Preparation or Synthesis Sources

The sources in this section give you journal article reference(s) to locate a preparation (also referred to as a "synthesis") of your compound. You need to locate the article itself to learn about the method of synthesis. (What is a "scholarly journal"?)

After you use these sources to obtain a journal article reference for a synthesis, you will need to check the NCSU Libraries Catalog to determine whether we have the journal, and to obtain the call number for the journal. Search by journal title (not article title or author).

If you only have an abbreviated title, go here.

Most syntheses are old, so the journal article may only be available in print, not online. In addition, older journals will often be at the Satellite Shelving Facility, not in D.H. Hill. It takes a day or two to get items from Satellite Shelving, plan ahead!

Places to find synthesis references:

  1. Dictionary of Organic Compounds- TRY THIS FIRST.
    D. H. Hill Reference QD246 .D5
    Available electronically through ChemNetBase

  2. Merck Index
    Online via NCSU Libraries subscription
    D. H. Hill Reference RS51 .M4

  3. Organic Syntheses
    Collective Volumes I-X, D. H. Hill Reference QD 262 .O72
    Annual Volumes - QD262 .O72 (6th floor)
    Also online at http://www.orgsyn.org/.
    Warning: searching directly in orgsyn.org can be challenging! Search results will often seem unrelated to your search terms. This is a good lesson about poor search engines and interfaces. This resource IS very useful if you already know the volume and page you need--you can browse right to it.

  4. Handbook of Reagents for Organic Synthesis
    D. H. Hill Reference QD77 .H37 1999

  5. SciFinder Scholar (Chemical Abstracts)
    The Chemical Abstracts database is searchable online using SciFinder Scholar software, available on library computers (PCs only) and many chemistry lab computers. Find your chemical, then search Reaction Information (A-->B) as a product. (More detailed help here.)

  6. Other chemistry databases
    Available through NCSU Libraries
    Try Web of Science (also known as Science Citation Index Expanded), Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, or another chemistry database. Try searching for your chemical and synthesis (or a synonym) as search terms.

null Top of Page

Spectra

Click on individual title to link to electronic resources, or details about print resources.

  1. Aldrich: Advancing Science (Aldrich Catalog Handbook of Fine Chemicals)
    Spectra sometimes available on the web version of Aldrich at http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/

  2. Aldrich Library of 13C and 1H FT NMR Spectra - abbreviated FT-NMR in Aldrich Catalog
    D. H. Hill Reference QC462.85 .A44

  3. Aldrich Library of FT-IR Spectra - abbreviated FT-IR in Aldrich Catalog
    D. H. Hill Reference QD96 .I5 P66

  4. SDBS, Spectral Database for Organic Compounds
    Online at: http://riodb01.ibase.aist.go.jp/sdbs/cgi-bin/cre_index.cgi?lang=eng

  5. NIST Chemistry Webbook
    Online at: http://webbook.nist.gov/chemistry

  6. NMRShiftDB
    Online at: http://www.nmrshiftdb.org/

  7. Dictionary of Organic Compounds
    D. H. Hill Reference QD246 .D5 (9 volumes)
    Look for references ending in (ir) or (nmr)
    Available electronically through ChemNetBase

null Top of Page

Librarian Contact Information

NCSU Libraries Copyright | Disclaimer | Accessibility | Text Only | Contact Us | Staff Only NC State University