SEARCHING FOR CHEMICAL INFORMATION FROM DATABASES

In this short search assignment, you will be looking for certain specific chemical information about a substance. All the substances in the master list below are used as chemical solvents. The databases you use for this assignment can be found primarily on the Chem 350 website or GMU Library databases.

Choose your substance in the list below according to your computer number. If you have trouble completing this assignment with your assigned compound, please let me know immediately.

Remember -- it is almost always better to search using a registry number or molecular formula than substance name. So....

Begin by going to the Dictionary of Organic Compounds to obtain some basic property information about your substance. Enter the name of your compound and press the Search button (don't press "browse"). Open the details window for your compound. Print the first page. (At some point in this assignment you might need an isomer of your substance. This is a good place to find isomers from the molecular formula.)

Go to the ChemExper database to search for commercial availability of your chemical. Print the first page. On the page, make a brief comparison of commercial sources as you found here v. the Dictionary of Organic Compounds.

At the top of the page, click "New: Predict NMR Spectrum". You will be taken to a new page. Be patient, and the spectrum should appear in the box. Press "Print Report".

Go to each of these websites and try to find the information that is specified.

SDBS Find the H-NMR spectrum (If it is not available, use an isomer of your substance. Please note the name of the alternate substance on the printout.) Using the same procedure as you did in Assignment 1, print only the spectrum frame (right-hand frame). (The procedures are slightly different depending on whether you use IE or Firefox.)

On the page, make a brief, handwritten comparison about the output NMR from this source vs. the predicted spectrum, above.

National Institute of Standards and Technology 

[Use the NIST Data Gateway in the right frame.]        Find thermodynamic data in the NIST Chemistry Webbook.

Choose a link under "Other data available" such as Phase change data (best) or Condensed phase thermochemistry data, etc. Print the first page and the page that has your chosen data on it. [If there is no data for your compound, use your compound's molecular formula to search for data on an isomer. Please note the name of the alternate substance on the printout.]

Organic Syntheses Database (Wiley)             Find a reaction involving the substance.

The easiest approach to this comprehensive reaction data base is to choose " Access Organic Syntheses via keyword searching" at the bottom of the opening page. In the appropriate search box, enter your substance. [Avoid using molecular formula search.] Choose one of the results to view in pdf format.

Print the first page and also the page that contains the name of your substance (it might not be prominent, but rather appear in the Notes section, or mentioned incidentally).

Highlight the name on your print copy. Make sure that your choice is for the substance itself, not your substance's name as part of a larger compound. If the substance name is a synonym of your assigned compound name, also note that in the margin. [If there is no data for your compound, use an isomer of your substance. Please note the name of the alternate substance on the printout.]

Material Safety Data Sheets  The best source for MSDS is the manufacturer of the substance. Two common manufacturers of lab chemicals are Sigma-Aldrich and Fisher but there are others. Print the entire MSDS. [If there is no data for your compound, use an isomer of your substance. Please note the name of the alternate substance on the printout.]

Assemble and staple your printouts in the order in which they are mentioned in the assignment. Submit printouts separately from the SFS assignment. There are no electronic files to submit.

lactic acid, butyl ester

1

triethanolamine

2

diethylene glycol

3

dimethylacetamide

4

acrolein

9

methyl t-butyl ether

10

furfuryl alcohol

11

acetic acid, sec-butyl ester

12

propylene oxide

13

diethanolamine

14

catechol

15

dibutylphthalate

20

N-methylpyrrolidone

21

1,4-dioxane

22

propylene glycol

23

furfural

24

sulfolane

25

hydroquinone

26

isopropyl acetate

27


Chemistry 350

George Mason University

http://classweb.gmu.edu/sslayden/Chem350/chem350.htm