CAS ― the World's Authority for Chemical Information
CAS databases are recognized by chemical and pharmaceutical companies, universities, government organizations and patent offices around the world as both the most comprehensive and authoritative sources of chemical and related information. CAS is the only organization in the world that is solely dedicated to finding, collecting, and organizing all publicly disclosed chemical substance information. By combining its databases with advanced search and analysis technologies (e.g., SciFinder® and STN®), CAS delivers the most current, complete, cross-linked and secure digital information environment for scientific discovery and research.
In 2011, CAS set new milestones for database growth, analyzing more than 1.5 million patents, journal articles and other disclosed research sources, for a new total of more than 35 million indexed records. CAS’ reaction database saw even greater gains, with growth exceeding 8.7 million new reactions. Thanks to the more than 1,000 scientists around the world who assemble, curate, and assure the quality of the CAS databases, researchers can also explore the largest collection of disclosed chemical synthesis information, including more than 38 million single- and multi-step reactions from 1840 to the present. CAS added more than 1.6 million reaction experimental procedures for all ACS journals and English language patents from major patent offices (i.e., USPTO, CIPO, EPO, UK-IPO, and WIPO) from 2000 through 2011. CAS also reached agreements with other publishers to add more experimental procedures that will be made available in SciFinder in early 2012.
The CAS REGISTRYSM is the world’s largest collection of small molecules. During 2011, CAS celebrated registration of the 60 millionth substance in the CAS REGISTRY. This therapeutic compound, originating in a Chinese patent application, was discovered by the Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, one of the key drug research institutions in China. As of year-end 2011, CAS REGISTRY included nearly 65 million organic and inorganic substances, plus more than 63 million sequences. The continual growth and updating of the CAS REGISTRY database is reported with the REGISTRY counter on the CAS web site home page (www.cas.org). This growth has been complemented by CAS’ expanding coverage of predicted and experimental property values, spectra, and data tags, to more than 3.6 billion by year-end.
CAS’ patent authority coverage expanded to include Malaysia in 2011. CAS now covers 62 patent authorities worldwide to ensure comprehensive patent information within its databases.
Enhancements to SciFinder Improve Access to CAS Content within the Researcher’s Workflow
Three separate updates to the web version of SciFinder during 2011 provided scientists with new capabilities to further their research.
- In April, CAS released SciPlannerTM, allowing researchers to more quickly identify synthesis options to design the best pathways and approaches to optimize their research. SciPlanner also assists non-synthetic chemists in organizing their search results to help them understand related research more effectively.
- An August release included operational enhancements to SciFinder, including upgraded browser support, post-processing Print and Export options, and better visibility for Keep Me Posted alerts.
- In December, improvements were implemented to help scientists quickly find the substance information that is most relevant to their research. New bioactivity and target indicator features allow scientists to easily assess the biological relevance of a specific substance or an entire substance answer set. Additional 13C and 1H NMR spectra and mass spectra increased the wealth of experimental data available to researchers. New substance relevance ranking was introduced so scientists can more effectively review answer sets and retrieve the substances that are most similar to their query. Scientists can also now preview more journal content in the summary and detail displays for references with the addition of table of contents graphics from ACS Publications. Finally, Mozilla Firefox 7 and 8, Apple Safari 5.1 and Macintosh OS X Lion (version 10.7) were added to the list of supported web browsers and operating systems.
In addition to these enhancements, SciFinder Mobile® was launched in April to provide SciFinder users with convenient smartphone access to the world’s best chemical and related information.
Organizations around the globe increasingly rely on SciFinder for accurate, timely chemistry and related information. In 2011, the United States Department of Energy chose SciFinder as the chemical information tool for all researchers at 17 sites across the nation, marking the first time the DOE has entered into a complex-wide agreement for any digital scientific information tool. Large contract research organizations abroad, including Syngene and TCG Lifesciences of India, selected SciFinder for its “reliable, high-quality content and advanced reaction planning tools.”
Unlimited Access to SciFinder is Available for Academic Institutions
Beginning in July, a new pricing program option, the Academic Unlimited Access Program, was introduced to academic institutions worldwide. Under this new program, academic users are no longer restricted by concurrent seats, so students and faculty from all departments across a campus benefit from unrestricted access to CAS’ comprehensive content. Stanford University was the first school to choose this program. Schools worldwide have been increasingly moving to unlimited access and, in October, Eduserv selected unlimited access for its CHEST consortium of more than 47 academic institutions in the U.K. and Ireland, for SciFinder’s “world class information scope and timeliness, to materially increase scientific research productivity and accelerate innovation.”
CAS and Its STN Partner, FIZ Karlsruhe, are Revolutionizing Patent Searching with a New STN, The Choice of Patent Experts
In October, CAS and its STN partner, FIZ Karlsruhe, announced development of a completely new STN. The new platform will bring improved efficiency and usability at the expert level, with powerful new elements including: project-oriented workflow; combined text and structure queries; simultaneous query and results interaction; real-time analysis of results; and virtually no system limits.
Another key feature of the new STN is that in addition to offering a wide range of advancements, it will retain the unique values of STN that are trusted by patent search professionals today, including the STN command line, search precision and high-quality content. The focus on patent search professionals also encompasses the STN commitment to maintain a secure and confidential research environment, as well as training and support by CAS’ scientists.
A New Program Provides Complimentary SciFinder Access to Former SciFinder Users Who are Now Unemployed
In November, CAS began offering unemployed scientists complimentary SciFinder access to assist in their efforts to secure employment. Scientists who previously had access to SciFinder through an organization that had the Enterprise-Wide Pricing (EWP) option but lost their jobs since Jan. 1, 2011, are eligible. This program is helping researchers stay current in their research areas while they seek new employment and identify employment opportunities with organizations and scientists with similar research strengths.
CAS Embarks on a New Long-Term Research Initiative to Keep Pace with the Growth of Disclosed Chemical Information
In December, CAS and InfoChem announced a long-term collaboration in ChemInformatics to create new technologies to enhance the discovery of chemical patents and more. For example, a joint team is now researching and developing technology to identify chemical information in text and to semantically enrich chemical information documents. The partnership will explore ways to extract, derive, store, communicate and interpret chemical substance information.