Polymers
Searching for polymers by name can be difficult as the names are long and chemical names are sometimes in different formats. Given below are a few hints on how to search for polymers on AICS.
Clearly, because of the complexity of polymer names, searching for polymers on AICS using the CAS number is the best option. However, if no CAS number is available, it is best to break the chemical name into keyword fragments and search for a combination of these fragments to find the polymer. An example of a polymer chemical name search is below:
Example 1:
Polymer to be searched:
Phenol, 4,4'-(1-methylethylidene)bis-, polymer with (chloromethyl)oxirane, polymer with paraformaldehyde, 3-methylphenol,
2-methylphenol and 4-methylphenol
This polymer name can be broken down into the following keyword fragments:
Phenol
Methylethylidene
Chloromethyl
Oxirane
Paraformaldehyde
Methylphenol
Choose the search operator "Contains all words" and input the fragments on the same line or different lines. Click Go to search for the polymer.
If there is more than one hit for the name combination, then all the search results will be displayed. In this case only one chemical name was found on AICS and it will be displayed as follows:
Example 2:
This example demonstrates a search sequence for a polymer where the supplied chemical name is different to the name listed on AICS.
Polymer to be searched:
Acrylic acid, polymer with acrylonitrile, butyl acrylate and styrene
If the above polymer is searched for the keyword fragments acrylic acid, acrylonitrile, butyl acrylate and styrene, the search will return as negative.
However, if synonyms for each keyword fragment can be identified using AICS or other sources, these can be used for the AICS search.
Synonym for acrylic acid on AICS is:
2-propenoic acid;
Synonyms for butyl acrylate on AICS are:
2-Propenoic acid, butyl ester
Acrylic acid, butyl ester
Butyl 2-propenoate
n-Butyl acrylate
Synonyms for acrylonitrile on AICS are:
2-Propenenitrile
Cyanoethylene
Synonyms for styrene on AICS are:
Benzene, ethenyl-
Ethenylbenzene
Vinylbenzene
A combination of the above synonyms can be used for the search as shown below:
Several possible candidate polymers may be returned. The correct polymer can be identified manually from the list by clicking on the CAS number (see below).
Clearly, it is important to consider synonyms when conducting chemical name searches.
