Beilstein Crossfire
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Beilstein Crossfire is a client-server system that provides campus users access to the Beilstein organic chemistry database, which contains structures and data for more than ten million carbon compounds and more than ten million organic reactions. It is searchable by chemical structure/substructure, property data, and identification information. The database is updated quarterly.
The client software used to access Beilstein is called Crossfire Commander. You may obtain Commander free of charge via the link below. Commander is also available on workstations in the Chemistry Library.
Use of Beilstein Crossfire outside the library is restricted to currently enrolled students and currently appointed faculty and staff at the University of Texas at Austin. Connecting computers must have a UT-Austin IP address.
(UT EID Required)
For additional searching help, consult these guides:
Frequently Asked Questions
- Where can I access Crossfire?
- The Crossfire client software, called Crossfire Commander, is installed on workstations in the Chemistry Library. The client is also free to install on your computer, as long as you are connecting from a UT-Austin IP address.
- Where can I get the software?
- You can download the latest version via our download link (UT EID required).
- What operating systems does it run on?
- The latest version of Commander (7.1) is available for Windows XP and Vista only.
- Is there a Mac version?
- No. The only Mac option is to run the Windows client under Parallels Desktop for Mac or Mac's Boot Camp. Other Mac-Windows options
- I have the software installed, but I can't get it to connect.
- Initiate the login by clicking the Connect button. If this doesn't result in a live connection to the server, there's probably a configuration problem. Be sure that UT's Group Name (Options menu), Login ID, and password are entered into the software configuration. Contact the Chemistry Librarian (495-4600) if the problem persists.
- Do I need my own password?
- No, but you must configure the installation with the appropriate UT-Austin group name, userid, and password, which are provided on the Crossfire information page (EID required). This information can then be saved in your software so that you don't have to re-enter it every time you log in. When you close the program, check the box that says "Automatically connect to the current server for the next session".
- Can I access it from home?
- No. The Commander client connection can't be proxied, so you can't use it via a third-party internet provider. You have to have a UT-Austin IP address.
- Why won't it launch the Structure Editor?
- Make sure that the default structure editor is set to "Crossfire Structure Editor" under the Options/Structure Editor menu. This will tell Commander to use its internal structure editor from then on. If you would prefer to use ISISDraw, you can download this program free from MDL/Symyx (registration required). You can also download Symyx Draw (formerly MDL Draw) at the Commander download site.
- Does Commander link to full text of journals?
- Version 7.1 offers a new feature where you enter a link resolver URL during initial set-up. This allows the Full Text button next to a citation in View Results to direct you to UT's in-house e-journal database, which will determine whether we have electronic access to the article in question. If we do, you can link right to it. If we don't, you'll get a link to the Library Catalog to do an ISSN search for the printed journal. These links don't always work perfectly, but they help.
When prompted during installation, enter this URL:
http://www.lib.utexas.edu:9003/sfx_local
- What journals does Beilstein cover?
- Beilstein currently excerpts 174 selected journals that contain research in organic, medicinal, and biological chemistry. A list of indexed journals is available from the Beilstein web site. Beilstein's literature coverage before 1980 was much more extensive, with over 2,000 journals plus patents being examined. In 1980 Beilstein stopped patent coverage and dropped its journal coverage to only 80 titles, a number that increased gradually thereafter.
- Does Beilstein cover patents?
- Not anymore. Beilstein included selected worldwide chemical patents from about 1920 to 1980. Search SciFinder Scholar (Chemical Abstracts) for much more thorough chemical patent coverage.
- Does Beilstein contain CAS registry numbers?
- Records prior to 1994 contain RNs as chemical identifiers. Records added since 1994 do not. The reason for this is a long-running licensing dispute between CAS and Elsevier. Beilstein's own "registry number" (the BRN) is not widely used and should not be confused with the CAS RN.
- Now that we have SciFinder Scholar, is there any reason for me to search for organic compounds in Beilstein Crossfire anymore?
- Yes. SciFinder and Beilstein are complementary resources, and although there is some overlap the two are quite different in the ways they scan and index the literature, the ways they register compounds and index reactions, and in the dates they cover. Beilstein is more useful for obtaining physicochemical data, preparation/reaction references, and especially for coverage of pre-1980 journal literature -- literature references in Beilstein go back as far as the 18th century. SciFinder is more useful for its very thorough coverage of the literature and patents from 1967 forward and its comprehensive registration of all types of chemical compounds and structures. CAS also scans far more journals than Beilstein does now. For organic and medicinal chemists, it is always advisable to search both databases for complete coverage of organic compounds and reactions.
- Do we have access to the Gmelin part of Crossfire?
- No, UT-Austin does not subscribe to the Gmelin (inorganic/organometallic) file, for budget reasons. The Chemistry Library has the complete Gmelin Handbook in print.
- Where does Beilstein come from?
- The database was originally created and maintained by the Beilstein Institute in Germany. The Commander client interface was launched by MDL in the mid-1990s; the publishing giant Reed Elsevier acquired MDL in 1997. In March 2007 Elsevier purchased the Beilstein database outright from the Institute to merge with its MDL subsidiary. Later in 2007 Elsevier sold MDL to Symyx Technologies Inc., but retained ownership of the Beilstein content. We now access the Beilstein data via the Minerva academic consortium hosted by the University of Wisconsin under a license agreement with Elsevier, using the MDL/Symyx Commander interface. This situation is obviously fluid and the interface is subject to future change.
- Who pays for Beilstein Crossfire?
- The cost of this resource is shared by the University Libraries, the Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and the Division of Medicinal Chemistry in the College of Pharmacy.
