ChemSketch is a free software similar to ChemDraw and contains other functions such as making chemical movie. 

Other free drawing software includes Symyx Draw and MarvinSketch. 

SciFInder's usability is greatly improved if one uses the correct browser.  Look up OS and browser system requirements, as well as things to keep up-to-date to keep the structure editor running smoothly.

Search SciFinder by research topic, chemical structure, chemical name, SMILES or InChi string, author(s), company name, DOI number, formulas, subjects and author(s). Additionally, individual substances may be searched by structure, formulas, patent, or synonyms.

Start your exploration of SciFinder using one of the following methods:

1. Explore references: Find scientific information in journals and patents from around the world by research topic, author name, company name, DOI number, journal, patent, and tags. 

Tips for exploring references:

• use natural language, including prepositions (of, in, with, by, etc.)
• place acronyms or synonyms can be used in parenthesis, e.g. drug (medicine)
• use not or except before a word to exclude it, e.g. global warming not carbon dioxide
• do not include truncation or wildcard symbols, SciFinder automatically truncates the terms in your query

2. Explore Substances: Find information and properties on a specific chemical substance by chemical structure, molecular formula, and substance identifier. 

3. Explore Reactions: Find reactions by using a chemical structure. See information on chemical drawing software on the left.

Once you've found a relevant paper, you'll want to download it so you can read it. To download a paper, look for the Full Text icon. On the References or Reference results page, the Full Text link is next to the title.

All Full Text links will open a new window (make sure pop-ups are allowed on your browser). Sometimes the link will go directly to the article, but most of the time, you'll see the CAS Full Text Options. Always select TuttLink, which will search our holdings to see if we have the paper electronically or in print. The links under Web-based document resources will sometimes prompt you to pay for articles we already own, unlike TuttLink.