Page 126 - Chiral Separation Techniques

4.4 Searching the System 103

We have one specific sample. We want to find all possible CSPs for its analytical
or preparative separation and closely related molecules.
We want to explore the application of specific CSPs. We want to find all separa-
tions that use them or that use structurally similar CSPs and specific data that are
associated with them.
We have specific types of compounds of interest. We want to include or exclude
that use these specific solvents or types of solvents.
We want to find all separations that have a given combination of structural fea-
tures and data in common.
We want to retrieve the literature citations to specific structures or family of struc-
tures.

Fig. 4-4. The query menu form: search of chiral separations of alpha-aromatic acids on any polysac-
charide CSPs with α > 1.2.

4.4.2 The Automatic Search Tool

The entire formulation of a chemical question can involve a number of issues, some
of which are often obscure to the user. Questions such as what components can be
substituted at a given atom site, what types of bonds are favorable for a given chem-
ical fragment query (single, double, ring, chain, aromatic, etc.), and should the query
contain explicit or implicit substitution, are just a few of the issues facing a user.