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MDL CrossFire Commander Version 6 (2002)

The new CrossFire Version 6 client provides simultaneous searching of either structures or text (not both) in Beilstein and Gmelin, by clicking the 'checkboxes' of both databases. Results will be displayed separately on a single screen.

Background

The Caltech Library System has a site license for CrossFire, a powerful client-server system that provides unlimited access to both the Beilstein organic chemistry database and the Gmelin inorganic/organometallic chemistry database. The client software you must have, for lab or office use, is called MDL CrossFire Commander V6.

Access is controlled by IP address. Connections must be made through a Caltech IP, which includes PPP/VPN ITS connections and Caltech cable modem service.

Use of MDL CrossFire is restricted to CURRENTLY enrolled students and CURRENTLY affiliated faculty and staff at the California Institute of Technology and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

MDL CrossFire Commander (MDL CC) consists of several interrelated modules: a Structure Editor, a Fact Editor, a Display Hits module, and a communications module called Crosslink. You may obtain MDL CC free of charge from the sites described below. The MDL CC software is also mounted on all Caltech Library System workstations and is launched from the Start Menu. Access is controlled by IP address; connections must be made through a Caltech or JPL IP address. Caltech cable modem, PPP and VPN connections through ITS accounts are also valid, as are connections via JPL VPN.

Beilstein and Gmelin are separate databases, and contain data for over 8.5M organic compounds (9M reactions) and 1.7M inorganic/organometallic compounds (1.1M reactions), respectively. They are searchable by structure, physical property, reaction and bibliographic data. Gmelin has recently begun adding journal article titles and abstracts.

A third database, AUTONOM, is an IUPAC structure naming program for organic compounds.

Getting Started

  1. Download the client software from one of these sites:

Version 6: Caltech Library System (PC | Mac) 

Installation instructions are critical for OS X

http://minerva.library.wisc.edu
http://www.mdl.com/downloads/downloadable/index.jsp

  1. Configure the client to make a connection to the server.
    Note: our group name is caltech.

    Instructions for installing CrossFire Commander V6 for Windows NT/9x/XP
    Instructions for installing CrossFire Commander V6 for Power Macs

    Installation instructions from one of the above links must be completed before proceeding to Step 3.
  2. When you start up Commander, click on the little crossed arrows icon  to initiate a connection to the server. You will see a Crosslink window showing the connection status, and if everything goes well, you will then be returned to Commander with an active session. This part of the startup can be made automatic by configuring your Startup Tasks in Commander.  Clicking the blue hexagonal icon, will connect you to AutoNom (Automatic Nomenclature) which generates IUPAC names directly from organic chemical structures.  Input a structure using the Beilstein Structure Editor, and AutoNom produces a correct IUPAC name in just seconds.

Documentation and Help

MDL CrossFire Commander V6 -- Quick Reference Guide

Autonom Brochure 

List of currently excerpted journals covered in the Beilstein Database 
List of currently excerpted journals covered in the Gmelin Database

Crossfire Beilstein; a small dictionary (German-English)
Beilstein Dictionary (German-English & English-German)
German-English Terms for Physical Properties in Beilstein
German-English Terms for Reaction Chemistry in Beilstein

For searching tips, consult these guides:

Beilstein and Gmelin Databases (UW-Madison)
Beilstein/Gmelin CrossFire V.6: Quick Review - 2004 (Caltech) 
University of Chicago Web Guides for Beilstein CrossFire
Beilstein Introductory Examples (MIMAS)

Use of CrossFire Commander is restricted to CURRENTLY enrolled students and CURRENTLY affiliated faculty and staff at the California Institute of Technology.

Caltech's Key Contacts for CrossFire are:

Dana Roth and George Porter
Caltech Library System
Email: sfscontact@library.caltech.edu
Phone: (626) 395-6423 or  (626) 395-3409