COLUMBUS, Ohio, November 25 /PRNewswire/ --

CAS REGISTRY, the world's most authoritative collection of disclosed chemical substance information, now includes 40 million organic and inorganic substances. CAS Registry Number(R) 1073662-18-6 recently was assigned to an azulenobenzofuran derivative.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081125/CLTU095 ) (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070817/CLF008LOGO )

The 40 millionth substance was identified by a team of CAS scientists, C.H. Oh, J.H. Lee, S.J. Lee, J.I. Kim, and C.S. Hong. The journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition published their findings on November 21, 2008.

Titled Intramolecular Huisgen-Type Cyclization of Platinum-Bound Pyrylium Ions with Alkenes and Subsequent Insertion into a Benzylic C-H Bond, the article describes a novel method for the synthesis of polycyclic substances with a central seven-membered carbocycle, including the 40 millionth substance.

Such polycyclic substances are core structural components in certain naturally occurring chemicals, including Taxol(R) (CAS Registry Number 33069-62-4), a chemotherapeutic drug derived from the bark of the Pacific yew tree. More efficient methods to synthesize these polycyclic substances may lead to improved synthesis of Taxol, its analogs, and other potentially important pharmaceuticals.

If you are able to use the web version of SciFinder(R) [https://scifinder.cas.org/], copy the link below into your browser to directly access the REGISTRY record for the 40 millionth substance: https://scifinder.cas.org/scifinder/view/link_v1/reference.jsf?l=BmxxGlm... 6yRMZt04XKU4rVx5UYss_cWUFpSPLua4sa8pEqRtsg. To view the chemical structure, visit: http://www.cas.org/newsevents/connections/derivative.html

CAS' mission is to create the world's best digital environment to search, retrieve, analyze, and link chemical information in a variety of scientific fields, including in biomedical sciences, chemistry, engineering, materials science, agricultural science, and others.

CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society, provides the world's largest and most current collection of chemical and related scientific information, including the most authoritative database of chemical substances, the CAS REGISTRY. CAS combines these databases with advanced search and analysis technologies to deliver the most complete, cross-linked, and effective digital information environment for scientific research and discovery, including such products as SciFinder, STN(R), STN Express(R), and STN(R) AnaVist(TM), among others. The CAS web site is www.cas.org.

Eric Shively of CAS, +1-614-447-3847, eshively@cas.org; or Kristin Mack Deuber of Paul Werth Associates, +1-614-224-8114, kmack@paulwerth.com/Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081125/CLTU095