Find Chemicals With SciFinder

Often you come across a chemical structure or name in a publication and then you need to find a place to order some from for your research. Maybe you try typing it in the Sigma catalogue and it comes up empty. Maybe you find a compound that has a similar name, but is it really exactly the same thing? Where do you go next?

1 Connect to SciFinder through the UT Library website: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/chem/scifinder.html
You will need to create a username and password. 1 Click on Explore Substances. Now you can draw the compound (click on Chemical Structure) or search by name (click on Substance Identifier). 1 Once you've found your chemical, you can get a lot of useful information:

• The CAS registry number.
  • This is a unique number assigned to only this exact chemical substance.
  • Even L-lactic acid has a different CAS number (79-33-4) than the DL-lactic acid racemic mixture (50-21-5).
• A list of companies known to supply the chemical and in what quantities. Usually you can search their websites by CAS number.
• Synonyms and alternative nomenclature for the chemical.
• And much more...