Case Study: ACD/Labs Provides Chemical Reaction Database Solutions for Academia

If you have ever taken a Chemistry or science-related course you are most likely familiar with the following statements:

"I know I drew the modified synthesis for the reaction I was working on last week in my lab book but now I can't find it."

"Before what's-her-name graduated she was working on something very similar to you. Here's her lab book. Just follow what she did."

"I know I stapled the spectrum of what I was working on in my lab book but I guess it fell out."

One of our academic clients was experiencing all of these issues. Being new to his research group, he was having trouble following the vein of research from a previous member. As he conducted his own research experiments, numerous NMR spectra were generated which were then stapled into his lab book. This is often the most convenient means by which to correlate an NMR spectrum with recorded lab notes, however it allows for a disorganized lab note book. Our client needed a better way to manage his reactions, chemical structures, and spectra.

He solved his problem by building a chemical reaction database using ACD/ChemFolder.

ChemFolder, our inventory management software, allowed him to store full multiple-step syntheses with notes, information, and links to NMR spectra for each intermediate step in one location. By simply drawing a structure, or a portion of a structure, or by entering some text related to one of his reactions, he could retrieve all the relevant information for all current and previous reactions performed by him and his previous group members in seconds.

As expected, transcribing information from previous members' lab books took some time but the resulting time savings for both he and his lab mates was significant. His advisor was even able to take other research members' individual databases and merge them into one all-encompassing database for the lab.

By using ACD/ChemFolder, in addition to his lab book, to manage his data, he saved a great deal of time in retrieving valuable information for current and previous experiments. As well, the use of customizable views allowed him to arrive at conclusions about his research much faster.

For more information on ACD/ChemFolder visit http://www.acdlabs.com/chemfolder/.