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Chemistry: Point of Use Guide

HOW TO USE Beilstein Handbook of Organic Chemistry
Beilsteins Handbuch der Organischen Chemie
LOCATION Science and Technology Library, North Index Corridor, QD251 .B41
Library holds 4th Edition, Basic Series and 
Supplementary Series I to V
SCOPE Beilstein Handbook is a selective collection of published data on the preparation and properties of carbon compounds.  Mostly in German; Supplementary Series V is in English.  Contains specific information which has been verified for accuracy and completeness.  Information is drawn from journal articles, patents, theses, and conference reports. Data is footnoted to source articles; thus the Handbook can be used to identify historically important literature.  Aspects of compound descriptions covered include:
  • Constitution and Configuration
  • Natural Occurrence and Isolation from Natural Products
  • Preparation, Formation and Purification
  • Structural and Energy Parameters of the Molecule
  • Physical Properties
  • Chemical Properties (including important reactions)
  • Characterization and Analyses
  • Salts and Addition Compounds
FREQUENCY Irregular; Library no longer subscribes to this series.
ARRANGEMENT Published in series, each covering a specific time period:

Basic Series: covers up to 1909; German 'Hauptwerk', abbreviated 'H'.

Supplementary Series I through V; Series I - IV German 'Erganzungswerk', abbreviated 'E'; Series V English:

Series I: covers 1910-1919; abbreviated 'E 1'
Series II: covers 1920-1929; abbreviated 'E II'
Series II: covers 1930-1949; abbreviated 'E III'
Series II: covers 1950-1959; abbreviated 'E IV'
Series V: covers 1960-1979; English
Each series is comprised of 27 volumes, with each volume representing a specific class of compounds.  Volumes 1-4 cover acyclic compounds, volumes 5-16 cover isocyclic compounds, volumes 17-27 cover heterocyclic compounds.  Supplementary Series E III and E IV are combined into one edition for volumes 17-27.
DIRECTIONS 
FOR USE		 Compounds may be located either by searching the Formula and Subject Indexes or by applying the rules of the Beilstein System for categorizing compounds.

Subject Indexes (compound name indexes) are included at the end of each volume.  All volumes from Series E III onwards also have Formula Indexes.  A General Subject Index (volume 28) and a General Formula Index (volume 29) were published for the Basic Series through E II.  Cumulative Subject and Formula Indexes were published individually for each volume of Series E IV which index the contents of the entire series (Basic Series through E IV) for that volume.

A useful search strategy to overcome the lack of a general index for the entire series is to use the general indexes for the earlier series (volumes 28 and 29) to locate which volume would contain the compound and then use the cumulated index for that volume in E IV to search the entire series.  This type of search is facilitated by the 'coordinating references', found in each compound description, which indicate the page of the Basic Series on which the compound can be found.

For more information regarding nomenclature used in the Subject Index, see the blue pages of volume 5 of E III and the yellow pages of the collective subject register of volumes 17/18 of E IV.

In the Beilstein System, compounds are divided into compound classes using a series of rules which assign every carbon compound one location within the overall array of 4720 system numbers.  The advantage of the Beilstein System lies in that it allows direct searching in the text of the volumes and is not dependent on knowing the compound's nomenclature or Beilstein's indexing practices.  The major disadvantage is in the complexity of the system rules.

A search strategy which uses the power of both the Beilstein System and its Indexes is to use the general system rules to locate the volume in which the compound will be included (but not necessarily the specific system number assigned to the compound) and then to use the volume index to locate references.

Consult the help guide entitled "How to Use Beilstein" for a description of the system rules and for more general information.  This guide and a short German-English dictionary of terms commonly used in Beilstein are shelved with the Handbook in the Index Corridor.

TABLES OF 
ABBREVIATIONS  		 At the beginning of each volume is a list of the full names of the journals and other publications referenced with their corresponding abbreviations.  Here also are chemical abbreviations, stereochemical nomenclature, and a transliteration table for the Cyrillic alphabet.
GENERAL NOTES Several other collections of chemical data include cross-references to compounds in Beilstein.  The most comprehensive of these are the Merck Index (Ref RS356.M524), the Aldrich Catalog of Fine Chemicals (Ref TP202.A43), and Handbook of Data on Organic Compounds (Ref QD257.7.H36).
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