Teaching Chemical Information:
Tips and Techniques

— June 1997 —

Dictionary of Organic Compounds (DOC)

Includes most compounds used in undergraduate labs.
Provides useful info for undergrad. lab. work.
An example of a more comples source than CRC, etc., so students learn the skill and value of using name and MF indexes.

Entries are alphabetical by name commonly used in labs (i.e. do not need to think about IUPAC nomenclature).
If compound name is not an entry, there are name and MF indexes.
Gives CA name for compound, if need to go to print CA Substance Index, and the RN if need to do computer search.
Provides the structure (graphic).
Gives MF, basic properties (e.g. density, mp, bp, etc.), description of substance (e.g. cryst.).
Gives toxicity info and references to more extensive descriptions.
Lists major references for synthesis, spectra, etc.

Format
Print	new 6th edition in 1995. 9 vols. Published by Chapman & Hall.
Online	Dialog as File 303 — Chapman & Hall Chemical Database. Incorporates other Chapman & Hall Dictionaries, e.g. Dictionary of Organometallic Compounds.
CD-ROM	Available as a separate CD for DOC and as part of the Chapman & Hall Chemical Dictionaries on CD-ROM. Has graphic structure building feature, so students learn to “draw” structures.

The best practice is to have students use DOC in context of lab assignments — e.g. look up melting point (not found in CRC).