INTRODUCTION TO THE BEILSTEIN AND GMELIN DATABASES

Margarete Bower Chemistry Library

BEILSTEIN HANDBOOK OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY (In German originally)

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Friedrich Konrad Beilstein (1838 – 1906) Worked to collect all properties and reactions of organic compounds together in one book or set of books Checked all data to determine if it was reliable Last edition would fill more than fifty shelves

Database includes:

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> 8 million organic compounds > 5 million chemical reactions

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> 35 million chemical property data > 200 types of properties and information to search References to the original reports in journal articles. Some as old as the 1770’s.

Types of compounds:

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Organics

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Organometallics (limited types)

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Some biological molecules

Search for a compound by:

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Structure

  Exact match to structure Substructure search

Chemical formula Chemical name or part of a name

Search for reactions by:

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Compound as a product Compound as a reactant Both product and reactant Reactions using specific catalysts, reagents or solvents

Other types of searches:

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Chemical or physical property

 For example, compounds that melt at a particular temperature

Compounds that have reports of a particular property

  For example, compounds that have been isolated from natural products Compounds that have vapor pressure data reported

Combine structure and property search

 For example, all the esters of acetic acid that boil above 120 degrees

Types of properties that may be reported: ( Not all compounds have all properties .)

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Crystal structure, bond lengths, bond angles Boiling point, melting point, triple point, critical temperature and pressure, vapor pressure Thermodynamic properties: enthalpy of formation, fusion, and vaporization; free energy of formation; entropy; heat capacity

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Dissociation constants (pKa)

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Ionization energy Optical data: index of refraction, circular dichroism Electrochemical data Spectra data: IR, NMR, UV-Vis, MS, Raman, luminescence, fluorescence Isolation from natural products Properties of mixtures Pharmacological data Safety data

Search by compound name

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Not usually the best method because of many variations in the form of chemical names

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Choose “Substance Identification” from the list at the left Double click on “Chemical Name” or “Chemical Name Segment”

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Use menu under “Relation” to choose the type of search

  Is = exact match to your term Contains = your term appears anywhere in the name 

Type your search term in the box under “ Field content”

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Click on “Start Search”

Search by molecular formula

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Count all the atoms of each kind List atoms in the order : C, H, all others in alphabetical order For example:

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C 8 H 10 N 4 O 2

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C 7 H 6 BrNO , not BrC 6 H 4 CONH 2

Property search example:

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Find a list of compounds that boil between 150 and 200 degrees and have data reported for the refractive index Choose:

   Boiling point > 150 Boiling point < 200 Refractive index (Leave Field Content box blank)

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Structure search

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Click on “Draw Structure” In “Structure Editor” window select the pencil icon to draw or edit a structure.

Choose the type of atom, bond, and ring to draw from the row at the top.

Select the “erase” icon on the left and click on an atom or bond to remove it.

To change an atom or bond to another kind or to add a charge or change other properties of an atom, click on it. Use the window that opens.

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The computer fills in hydrogen atoms. You do not need to draw them all.

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Transfer the structure to the search window by clicking on the red crossed arrows.

Check any options for the search conditions, if desired. The box at the bottom should say “Substances”.

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Click on “Start Search”

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When the “Search Status Report” window opens, click on “View” to see the answers.

Click on a structure to see the full record for the compound.

Combining structure and data search

Reaction search

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Variation on a structure search Draw a structure for a product or a reactant or both Under “Editmode” from the top list choose “Reaction” Use the cursor to put a box around the chemical structure Click on either “Reactant” or “Product” Transfer the reaction to the search window by clicking on the red crossed arrows The box at the bottom should say “Reactions” Click on “Start Search”

AUTONOM

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Draw the structure of an organic molecule Transfer the structure to the Autonom window by clicking on the crossed red arrows Click on “Generate name” Autonom generates a systematic chemical name

GMELIN HANDBOOK OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY (In German orginally)

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Leopold Gmelin (1788 – 1853) Similar to Beilstein, but covers:

 Inorganic compounds  Organometallics     Coordination compounds Metals and alloys Minerals Elements

Search by:

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Structure Chemical formula

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Chemical name or chemical name fragment Reaction

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Chemical or physical property

Properties that may be available: ( not every compound has all properties)

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Crystal structure data, interatomic distances and angles.

Physical properties: boiling point, melting point, vapor pressure Bond dissociation energies, ionization energies Dielectric constant, dipole moment Thermodynamics data: enthalpies of formation, fusion and vaporization; entropy; heat capacity