Teaching Chemical Information:
Tips and Techniques

— March 1998 —

Structure Search Retrieval: Review and Comparison

The following structure was used as the query in a structure search. Compare the substances retrieved by each type of structure search.

Exact Structure Search

Family Structure Search

Mixture of:

Amine salt of an organic acid

Polymer of

Substructure Structure Search

Unless you specify otherwise in a substructure search:

• Any type of substituent may occur at positions not blocked by hydrogens
• Your structure may be a structural fragment, embedded within a larger structure

Grace Baysinger, Head Librarian and Bibliographer
Swain Chemistry and Chemical Engineering Library, Stanford University Libraries
graceb@stanford.edu