Chemical information primary sources

The literature of chemistry and associated fields has iacreased enormously siace 1980. Kstahlishment of subspecialties and newly defined disciplines as well as iacreased research output have led to an explosion of journals, books, and on-line databases, all of which attempt to capture, record, and disseminate this plethora of knowledge (1). Tertiary reference tools ia chemistry and technology (eg, KJrk-Othmer, 4th ed.) help track the primary Hterature. Excellent references that discuss basic chemical information tools are The Titerature Matrix of Chemistry (1), Chemical Information Sources (2), and Mow to Find Chemical Information (3). 

Allylic hydroperoxides are primary products in the autoxidation of - olefins, and lack of definite information on their reactivity and chemical behavior has hampered efforts to understand olefin oxidation mechanisms (2). This deficiency is most strongly felt in determining the relative rates of addition and abstraction mechanisms for acyclic olefins since assignment of secondary reaction products to the correct primary source is required. Whereas generalizations about the effect of structure on the course of hydroperoxide decompositions are helpful, most questions can be answered better by directly isolating the hydroperoxides involved and observing the products formed by decomposition of the pure compounds. 

Although, in certain instances, rate parameters can be estimated using classical techniques the primary source for this information is empirical. Typical Arrhenius fits are employed even for the most detailed kinetics and mechanism treatments that have been proposed for various chemical systems (8, 9). ... 

A primary source of information on all aspects of chemical engineering principles, design, costs, and applications is The Chemical Engineers Handbook published by McGraw-Hill Book Company with R. H. Perry and D. W. Green as editors for the 6th edition as published in 1984. This reference should be in the personal library of all chemical engineers involved in the field. 

The usual search strategies for information on the preparation and properties, such as Chemical Abstracts and Beilstein can also be useful for determining if a particular compound has been reported to be polymorphic. However, reference to the primary sources on the preparation and the characterization of the compound may reveal unusual behaviour (e.g. melting points or colours which differed from one crystallization to the next) which testifies to the possible existence of polymorphic forms, behaviour that is not specifically noted in the abstracted material. 

Historically, the spatial arrangement of nuclei in compounds has constituted the primary source of information on chemical bonding between nuclei. To a large extent this is still true today, although... 

Experimentally measured values reported in the literature provide the primary source of kinetic data for the modeller. However, this information may be widely scattered and of variable quality. This has generated a need for bibliographies, reviews and critical assessments of the reported data to aid scientists and technologists who are not expert in chemical kinetics. In this section we review the main limitations of the primary data indicating how the need for compilation and critical evaluation has arisen. 

This paper reports further on the analysis of the Charles River system by a detailed qualitative examination of the organic compoimds which are present in the river sediment. This investigation of the sediment was undertaken from two points of view. First, the sediment is an obvious sink for pollutants which enter the river, and it was of interest to determine the identities of these compounds and, ultimately, their primary sources. Second, the sediment is a possible pollutant source in itself, i.e., organic compounds may be generated in the sediment by chemical or biological reactions and these would, in turn, pollute the water. In both of these cases, a comparison of the organic compounds found in the water and in the sediment would provide information on the natural processes which tend to modify the pollutant load of a body of water. 

Farmers and farm workers are potentially exposed to agricultural chemicals, such as pesticides and fertilizers. Labels are the primary source of information. Visual symbols and orally communicated information are particularly important in the agricultural setting. An MSDS may not be readily available or easily understood. 

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