Beilstein CrossFire Commander
Connection note
As of December 31st, 2010, the Beilstein CrossFire Commander has been discontinued by its provider, and will no longer be available to CrossFire users.
You may use the following electronic resources to your research:
Reaxys (Rutgers-restricted Access)
A web-based chemistry database that provides user-friendly online access to information about millions of chemical structures, reactions, and properties contained in the Beilstein and Gmelin databases.
Description
The Beilstein CrossFire database covers the organic chemistry literature (primarily journal articles plus patents) back to 1771. It indexes over ten million organic and organo-metallic compounds, 10 million chemical reaction references, and 320 million associated chemical, physical, and biological property records. The system also includes some 960,000 abstracts and titles excerpted from the organic chemical literature since 1980, and is updated on a regular basis.
The Beilstein CrossFire database is currently available on selected library computers throughout Rutgers at the following libraries:
- Chang Science Library
- Chemistry Library
- Dana Library
- Library of Science and Medicine
- Physics Library
- Robeson Library
Please consult with a reference librarian in any of these libraries for guidance as to which of the public computers have been loaded with Beilstein. Autonom is loaded on the same library workstations that provide access to Beilstein CrossFire.
If you are an authorized user of Rutgers University resources and can access the Rutgers modem pool, you can establish access to Beilstein CrossFire from outside the Libraries. You will need to load the Beilstein Crossfire Commander software on your home or office workstation.
It is not possible to gain access to Autonom outside the Libraries.
Help
Three major types of searches can be carried out using the Beilstein CrossFire database:
- Bibliographic searches for literature references by specific authors or articles about specific chemistry subjects or compounds.
- Structure searches can be carried out to find information about specific chemical compositions (i.e., draw the structure diagram of the molecule you are interested in and the system will search it and retrieve all relevant information about it). Limits can be imposed on these searches that enable the searcher to find very specific property information.
- Reaction searches yield details about preparative methods for chemical substances. These queries allow the searcher to investigate specific reaction attributes such as reaction centers, bond fates, and atom-atom mapping.
Finally, the Autonom program packaged with Beilstein CrossFire allows users to determine the name of any given chemical compound by simply drawing its structure diagram and initiating the naming process.
Information and guidance covering the use of the Beilstein CrossFire database is available from a number of sources. First are the help screens provided with the Beilstein CrossFire database itself. The Beilstein web site also offers extensive coverage about how to carry out various kinds of searches. The home page URL is http://www.beilstein.com/. See also http://www.info.crossfiredatabases.com/documentation.asp for links to atutorial, and a "Quick Reference Guide", and more.
Very detailed instructional material is also available at a number of university web sites. One particularly good one is that of the University of Chicago, located at the following URL: http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/su/chem/ucbeil.html
If you have a specific need for searching assistance, you may submit your questions to Ella Hu, Chemistry & Physical Sciences Librarian, at ellaqhu@rci.rutgers.edu, or to the Libraries' Ask A Librarian service.
Core Subject(s)