(004:141) Experiment #1
Literature
This experiment is designed to help you in three ways:
1.
To allow you to become familiar with some chemistry literature.
2.
To view and analyze some research papers.
3.
To practice citing papers.
There are many types of literature, but they are generally categorized as primary  or  secondary
sources
.
Primary Sources
Journals contain new work. There are thousands of journals in all fields. About 50 of them
pertain to organic chemistry. Journals contain papers and communications.  Communications (also
called letters) are brief papers, and generally contain preliminary data that can be republished later.
Data in papers cannot be republished.
Native English speakers are lucky  because  the  most  important journals  are  published  in
English. Nevertheless, it can be a great advantage to read German, since Germany was the chemistry
leader  100  years  ago.  Articles  in  Russian,  French,  and  Japanese  are  common  as  well.  Most
departments have some people who can read these languages, and  they  are  often  very  popular
people since they can help translate articles.
few  of  the  most  important  organic  chemistry  journals  are  shown  below.  The  journal
abbreviation is in bold. (E.g., J. Am. Chem. Soc.)
1. 
Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Japan
2. 
Chemische Berichte (Germany)
3. 
Helvitica Chimica Acta (Switzerland)
4. 
Journal of the American Chemical Society (a journal for all types of chemistry, actually)
5. 
Journal of the Chemical Society, Perkin Transactions 1 (Britain)
6. 
Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
7. 
Journal of Organic Chemistry
8. 
Journal of Organometallic Chemistry
9. 
Liebigs Annalen der Chemie (Germany)
10.  Nature (Britain)
11.  Science
12.  Tetrahedron Letters (Britain)
Patents are granted for new compounds or a new method  for  making a  known  compound
(amazingly, 20-30% of all  patents  are  chemical patents).    One  can  find  patent  information in
Chemical  Abstracts (a  publication  that  prints  abstracts  of  practically  everything  chemical).
Unfortunately, patents are not very reliable, since they may conceal important information,  even
though patents are supposed to be a full disclosure.
Secondary Sources
Chemical  Abstracts  (published  by  the  American  Chemical  Society)  provides  short
summaries, called abstracts, of many primary sources of information and is thus extremely useful
for “hunting down” information.   The print version of  Chemical Abstracts has  been  around  for
many years, but its use has recently been diminished by the development of SciFinder Scholar, a
1

(004:141) Experiment #1
searchable online version of the series. The  SFS  database includes abstracts from  roughly  9500
journals dating from the early 1900s to the present, and it is updated daily  as  new  papers  are
released.  The program is available on all computers in the computer library, but due to a licensing
restriction, only five people may be connected to the database at the same time.  The program may
be unavailable temporarily if the five-user limit has been reached, but it is generally not difficult to
access SFS during periods of normal use.   If you are working from a computer connected to the
UI  network,  you  may  download  a  copy  of  the  software  for  your  personal  use
(http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/chem/sfs2.html).
There a variety of ways in which you can search for abstracts on SciFinder Scholar.  SFS  is
most commonly searched by:
1) 
Author: You can look up an author, such as David F. Wiemer.
2) 
Subject: You can look up general subjects, such as catalysis.
3) 
Chemical substance: You can look up a chemical by its name (e.g. “cyclohexane”),  formula
(C
)
6H12 , or structure (
).
4) 
Journal: You can view abstracts for the articles published in a particular journal and year.
Each abstract on SciFinder Scholar will include the following:
1) 
the title of the paper
2) 
authors names and addresses
3) 
abbreviated name of the journal, and the year, volume, and page number
4) 
language of the paper
5) 
the short summary (about a paragraph)
As a convenient, time-saving feature, many abstracts on SciFinder Scholar link directly to an
electronic (PDF) version of the full journal article.
SciFinder Scholar also assigns a registry number to every compound abstracted. This is sort
of like a social security number. Thus, while compounds have different names in different countries,
it has only one registry number. There are approximately  14  million compounds  with  registry
numbers, and about 1 million are added each year.
Compendia  of  Tables  and  Information  are  a  useful  addition  to  any  chemist’s
bookshelves. Some examples include
1. 
The Handbook of Chemistry and Physics; 64th ed.; CRC Press:  Boca Raton, Florida, 1983-
1984.  (Often  just  called  the  CRC.)  This  is  full  of  information, including  the  “Physical
Constants of Organic Compounds.”
2. 
The Merck Index of Chemicals and  Drugs;  10th  ed., Merck  and  Company: Rahway, N.J.,
1983, is a good source of information about chemicals of medicinal importance. (Often, it is
just called the Merck Index.)
3. 
Catalog Handbook of Fine Chemicals; Aldrich Chemical: Milwaukee, WI., 1996-1997. Yes,
this is just their chemical sales catalog. But they had the smarts to  load  it  up  with physical
constants on all the chemicals they sell, and they give the catalog away for free. Some people
check here first for melting points.
Reviews are intensive surveys of a rather narrow field. These are great for “boning up”  on a
subject, especially when you lack time to read all of the primary literature. However, like a  book,
you must be aware that you are getting one person’s view of a subject, and they may not be telling
you everything you really want to know. Some journals that include reviews are:
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(004:141) Experiment #1
1. 
Accounts of Chemical Research
2. 
Angewandte Chemie, International Edition in English
3. 
Chemical Reviews
4. 
Chemical Society Reviews
5. 
Heterocycles
6. 
Journal of Chemical Education
7. 
Natural Products Reports
8. 
Synthesis
9. 
Tetrahedron
A few other important journals or magazines that scientists read are
1 .  
Chemical  and  Engineering  News  (This  is  the  weekly  news  journal  of  the  American
Chemical Society)
2. 
Discover Magazine
3. 
Scientific American (A bit “hard core” for nonscientists)
Serial publications are like reviews but published irregularly and are hardbound.
Examples include:
1. 
Advances in Organic Chemistry
7. 
Organic Syntheses (also very good)
2. 
Advances in Photochemistry
8. 
Progress in Macrocyclic Chemistry
3 .   A d v ances  in  P h y s ical  Organic
9. 
Progress in Organic Chemistry
Chemistry
10.  Reactive Intermediates
4. 
Advances in Protein Chemistry
11.  Selective Organic Transformations
5. 
Organometallic Reactions
1 2 . o p ics  in  S t e r e o c h e m i s t r y
6. 
Organic Reactions (Very good)
Textbooks and books abound at every level, from sophomore to graduate student texts. Just  a
few examples of some commonly used advanced books are given below.
1.  Carey, F.A.; Sundberg, R.J. Advanced Organic Chemistry; 3rd  ed.;  Parts  A  and  B;  Plenum:
New York, 1990.
2.  March, J. Advanced Organic Chemistry: Reactions, Mechanisms, and Structure, 3rd ed.; John
Wiley: New York, 1985.
3.  Fieser, L.F.; Fieser, M. Reagents for Organic Synthesis; John Wiley: New York, 1968-; Vols 1-
.
4.  House, H.O. Modern Synthetic Reactions, 2nd ed.; W.A. Benjamin: Menlo Park, CA, 1972.
5.  Larock, R.C. Comprehensive Organic Transformations; VCH Publishers: New York, 1989.
6.  Lowry, T.H.; Richardson, K.S. Mechanism and Theory in Organic Chemistry;  Harper  and
Row: New York, 1981.
7.  Corey, E.J.; Cheng, X. The Logic of Chemical Synthesis; John Wiley: New York, 1989.
Electronic Databases
These include:

SciFinder Scholar (American Chemical Society).  On-line search of Chemical Abstracts;
Available in Chemistry Library

Beilstein On-line: Chemical and physical properties and synthetic procedures, etc. for ~2
million compounds

Science Citation Index (SCI): Coverage of all the important publications in the physical
sciences. Available on CD.
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(004:141) Experiment #1

C h e m F i n d e r   is  a  free  source  of  chemical  information  on  the  web
(http://www.chemfinder.com/). With ChemFinder, one can search on a chemical name, or  using  a
free plug-in for your web browser, one can draw a structure and do a search on that.  Chemfinder is
also  a  quick  way  to  obtain  the  CAS  Registry  Number  for  a  chemical  compound,  a  universal
identifier which may make searches on other databases like SDBS (below) easier.

AIST Spectral Database for Organic Compounds (“SDBS”) is a web-based source of
literature NMR, IR, and mass spectra.  It will be useful for making comparisons with the spectra
that you will collect in this course.  http://www.aist.go.jp/RIODB/SDBS/cgi-bin/cre_index.cgi
Citing
Material in this section can be found in The ACS  Style Guide:  A  Manual  for  Authors  and
Editors, Janet S. Dodd, editor; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 1986; pp 106-114.
When citing a work, generally follow these examples.
It is known that the Diels-Alder reaction provides a six-member ring.3
Or
It is known that the Diels-Alder reaction provides a six-member ring (3).
Or
Many researchers have discovered the link between reaction temperature and reaction rate.2,4-9
Or
Recent investigations (2, 4-9) prove the link between reaction temperature and reaction rate.
Or
Recent investigations2,4-9 prove the link between reaction temperature and reaction rate.
References
Books
Titles of books (and journals) appear in italics. For book examples, look at examples  on
pages 2 and 3 of this handout. One thing you might notice is that some books have authors (see the
texts on page 2), while others do not (see the compendia on page 3). For  more information, check
the ACS Style Guide.
Sometimes you do reference one article or chapter within an edited book.  For instance,
Doo,  S.;  Shaggy.  In  How  to  Catch  a  Thief  and  a  Sandwich; Fred  and  Velma, Eds.;  Cartoon
Network: Hollywood, CA, 1998.
Journals
For journals, the year appears in bold and the volume  number  in  italics.   The  following
provides journal examples.
Dauben, W. G.; Thiessen, W. E.; Resnick, P. R. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 196284, 2015.
(This means year 1962, volume 84, page 2015.)
Hecker, E. Cancer Res. 196828, 2338.
Note:  Should  you  not  have  the  ability  to  do  bold  or  italics, you  may  replace  any  bold  by
underscoring with a wavy line, and you can replace italics by underlining, as shown below. (This is
a standard ACS format.)
Theses or Dissertations
4

(004:141) Experiment #1
Bravo, J. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California at Berkeley, 1991.
Personal Communications
Sam, Y. Yosemite State University, personal communication, 1998.
4:141 Coursepack
MacGillivray,  L.  Organic  Chemistry  Laboratory  (Coursepack);  Department  of  Chemistry,
University of Iowa: Fall 2005.
World Wide Web
Here is an example and the web site that listed it.
American Psychological Association. How  to  Cite Information  From  the  Internet and  the
World  Wide  W e b .  Retrieved  May  30,  1998  from  the  World  Wide  Web:
http://www.apa.org/journals/webref.html.
The Web reference may not be completely accurate, because this type of reference is new and
not totally standardized yet. List the company, or general site name, first. Then the title of the page
in italics, then the date retrieved, and finally the URL. That procedure appears to be a logical start.
Computer Programs
In Book Format: Author 1; Author 2; etc. Program Title, Version or edition; Publisher:Place
of publication, Year. For example:
Binkley, J.S. GAUSSIAN82; Department of Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon University: Pittsburgh,PA,
1982.
Literature Assignment
You should keyboard (type) as much as possible (all text must be keyboarded).  Structures
may be handwritten. Tables may be done by hand too.  If you do not have access to bold and italics,
follow the example on page 4. This assignment will be done in three parts:
Part 1
Chemical Table
Part 2
SciFinder Scholar Search
Part 3
Review/Popular Article Summary (one page)
5

(004:141) Experiment #1
Part 1  
Chemical Table
To do this, you can use one of the handbooks listed on page 2. Additionally, the web site at
http://chemfinder.camsoft.com/ will be useful. If they ask for a username  and  password,  try
orglab for username and 4141 for password. Let me know if you still have any problems.
Warning: Do NOT get ALL your information from the web site or from the books. You should use
at least two sources, one web source and one non-web source. (If you discover another web source
that is useful, you may use it). You may also use a source that I have not listed, as long as you cite it
properly. You will discover that some chemicals are listed multiple times in the Aldrich Catalog. Be
careful:  they  are  not  all  the  same.  Sometimes  the  compounds  are  deuterated, e.g.,  C2D5OD
(deuterated ethanol). Other times the purity of the material changes. Always try  to  pick  the  most
pure material to cite. Sometimes you just have to make your best guess  as to which one to pick. In
Aldrich, there is a formula index in the back which is sometimes useful  when Aldrich names  the
compound differently than you (or I) do. In some cases you may look in your coursepack or text to
find the structures of compounds. Then use the formula index in Aldrich to find how they name it.
For each chemical, provide the following information.
1) 
Name.
2) 
Formula.
3) 
Formula Weight.
4) 
Structure. Draw the structure out.
5) 
Melting point or boiling point. Note the pressure if it is not 760 mmHg.
6) 
Physical state at room temperature (gas, solid, liquid, solution in solvent). Sometimes you
have to figure this out. If they only give a boiling point of 56˚C, it’s probably a liquid, right?
7) 
Any hazardous indications. E.g., toxic, flammable, carcinogen, etc.
8) 
Source including page number. You should number the source and put your references at the
end. For multiple references of the same source, follow my example.
9) 
Comments (regarding purity or any confusion you have).
An example table is given on the last page.
Part 2
Chemical Abstracts
To get just a feel for what you can find using SciFinder  Scholar, you will do  an  author
search. You will look up one University of Iowa chemistry professor from the list below.
If your last name begins with…..you should look up professor
A-D
Donald J. Burton
O-S
Gregory K. Friestad
E-H
James B. Gloer
T-Z
David F. Wiemer
I-N
Leonard R. MacGillivray
Try to find a  paper  that is  as  organic looking as  possible.  Burton  does  lots  of  chemistry
where he puts  fluorine into  organic molecules. Gloer  and  Wiemer  often  isolate molecules from
natural sources. Wiemer and the others make organic compounds.
Here is a general plan for locating an article. Expect this to take awhile.
1)  Load the SciFinder  Scholar software.   Most computers in the chemistry library will have a
shortcut to the program on the desktop.   After agreeing to  the  license statement, you  will be
taken to a screen with a variety of search options.
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2)  Search for your author.  You may search by the author’s first and last name, last name only, last
name and first initials, etc.  For  this assignment, perform your search based on the name given
above (first, middle initial, last). SFS will provide a list of abstracts that match your search.
3)  Click on the “microscope” icon to the right of each entry to view the abstract.  Many abstracts
will include links to PDF  (or HTML) versions of the full text article.  These are denoted by a
“computer” icon.   By clicking on the icon, you will be directed to a website that contains the
full article.  If the article that you would like is not available on SciFinder, your best bet will be
to ask one of the librarians to help you locate the appropriate hardcopy in the journals sections
of the library.
4)  Find a journal article that deals with some topic in organic chemistry.
5)  Finally, print (or photocopy) both the abstract and the first page of the paper. (You may wish to
print/copy the whole paper; that’s up to you.) Be prepared to cite both  the abstract and  the
paper. Include a copy of the abstract and  first page
 of the paper with  your assignment
(staple it to the back).

You have been assigned a professor based  upon  your  last  name. One  problem is  that you
need to consider what name they have used in their papers. For instance, above it  says  James  B.
Gloer, but some of his papers could be listed under James Gloer or even Jim Gloer. Also be sure
you get the right James Gloer.
Once you find a paper, do your best to provide a one paragraph summary of the  work.  Do
not simply rewrite the abstract. Use your own words, and use good English with full sentences. You
need not analyze the paper in detail. We understand that much of the paper may be  unfamiliar to
you. Along with the one paragraph, include at least one or more chemical structures or a  reaction
sequence. The whole  of this  (text  plus  pictures)  should  NOT be more than  one page long
or you will lose points
. You must cite both the abstract and the paper. An example is given on the
last page.
Part 3
Review/Popular Article Summary
Look through the following review and popular journals, and find a review article that sounds
interesting, even if you do not understand it thoroughly. It does not have to be hard-core chemistry,
just chemistry related. The article you choose should be at least two pages long.
 If you feel at all
uncertain about your choice, feel free to  let  me  check  it  over  first  and  approve  it.  Except  for
Discover Magazine, these can be found in the chemistry library. The easiest way to find an article is
to go towards the photocopier and notice all the brown cardboard boxes that hold the more recent
issues of the journals. Simply start scanning the journals/magazines below until you find something
interesting.
1.  Accounts of Chemical Research
2.  Journal of Chemical Education
3.  Chemistry and Industry (London)
4.  Discover Magazine
5.  Today’s Chemist at Work
6.  Chemistry in Britain
7.  Scientific American
8.  Chemical and Engineering News
Copy the first page of the article, and provide a summary of the article. Your summary cannot
be longer than one page, and does not need to include pictures unless you wish to do so.  Staple
the first page
 to the end of your assignment. Make sure you cite the article properly.
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(004:141) Experiment #1
Example
Here is an example chemical table. Remember, you  can  do  this  by  hand  (neatly). For  any
information you are unsure about, include a question mark or a comment. Your table can be turned
90˚ on the page if you wish, and your table can be more than one page long if necessary.
Part 1
Chemical Table
3. Formula
1. Name
2. Formula
Weight
4. Structure
5. MP or BP
6. State
7. Hazards
8. Source
9. Comments
H
O
Nitric Acid
HNO
63.01
O
N
?
"fuming"? highly toxic,
1
No MP or BP given
3
oxidizer
O
Paclitaxel
C
853.92
MP 213-216˚C
solid
antineoplastic
2
47H51NO1 4
Et
3-Ethylpyridine
C
3
"technical grade"
7H9N
107.16
BP 166˚C
liquid
corrosive,
toxic
(contains an impurity)
N
1.  Catalog Handbook of Fine  Chemicals; Aldrich Chemical: Milwaukee, WI.,  1996-1997,  pp
1073-1074.
2.  CS ChemFinder. ChemFinder Searching. Retrieved May 30, 1998 from the World  Wide Web:
http://chemfinder.camsoft.com/ (searched for “paclitaxel”).
3.  Reference 1, p 708.
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Example
Here  is  an  example  paper  summary.  Please  follow  this  general  format.  Number  your
pictures, schemes, tables, or graphs. It is not necessary to go into exhaustive detail. Try to pick out
at least one feature that you understand and highlight it.
Part 2
Total Synthesis of (±)-Kempene-21,2
Kempene-2 (1) is a defense secretion  of  termite soldiers.  The  authors  developed a  long
synthesis of the kempene-2, starting from 2,6-dimethylbenzoquinone. The synthesis was about 24
steps  long.  The  authors  highlighted  two  reactions  specifically, a  Diels-Alder  reaction  and  a
dicarbonyl coupling. A Diels-Alder reaction is shown in Scheme I.
Scheme I
O
OBn
(isoprene)
O
O
Diels-Alder
H OBn
OBn
O
O
H
H
OBn
OAc
1
Some of the reactions  and  reagents used  have appeared in  our  textbook, such  as  a  Wittig
reaction  and  hydroboration  with  BH3.  The  structure  of  the  final  product  was  determined  by
comparing spectral properties with those of the natural product itself. They also did a 2D-NOESY
experiment to determine the relative configuration at each stereocenter.
1.
Dauben, W. G.; Farkas, I.; Bridon, D. P.;  Chuang, C.;  Henegar, K.  E.  J.  Am.  Chem.  Soc.
1991113, 5883.
2.
SciFinder Scholar.  2005 Edition.  American Chemical Society.  92645h.
9