A Literature Exercise Using SciFinder Scholar for the Sophomore-Level Organic Chemistry Course

Teaching students to find information in the chemical literature is an important aspect of undergraduate education. Most schools spread instruction in chemical information over their curriculum instead of teaching an independent course on the subject. While the cross-curricular approach allows for instruction to be done in a relative context, there are few published exercises designed to introduce literature searching at an early stage of the standard curriculum. Especially lacking are exercises that utilize modern online databases. This report details an exercise for the sophomore-level organic course using SciFinder Scholar to search the Chemical Abstracts database. Students each research the synthesis and use of a chiral auxiliary then present their findings to their classmates in a short oral presentation.