Intriguing records in CAS databases

HIST 16

Janice E. Mears, jmears@cas.org and Roger J. Schenck. Communications, Chemical Abstracts Service, 2540 Olentangy River Rd., Columbus, OH 43202
In a resource as far-ranging as Chemical Abstracts and the databases to which it gave rise, there are bound to be many items of information that evoke the "you don't say" response. This presentation will discuss some of the unique, unusual, and especially interesting items of information in CAS databases. These include the shortest abstract, the longest name, the heaviest molecule, and more. Taken together, this miscellany of stand-out records in the CAS databases suggests the great variety of chemistry-related material that has come to the attention of CAS and helps to illustrate why CAS is known as an exceptional resource that reflects the varied and often unexpected character of scientific information.