Categories: Medicinal Chemistry >> Molecular Modelling

An Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry

Description

This lively, highly illustrated text provides undergraduate and postgraduate students with an accessible introduction to medicinal chemistry. It covers basic principles and background, and then describes the general tactics and strategies involved in developing an effective drug. Through the use of numerous examples it highlights both the difficulties faced by the medicinal chemist and the great potential of rational drug design. The second edition has five new chapters and is updated to include recent advances in the field.

Editoral Review

"An Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry" clarifies the fundamentals of drug development with excellent examples and high quality graphics. The book does not require extensive knowledge of biochemistry, but rather starts from scratch, covering the structure and function of enzymes and receptors, and the most important drug target structures. Illuminating explanations are given, such as that of the substantial role in protein structure played by van der Waals forces. The precise explanations of enzymes and receptors, and of the spectrum of possibilities between inhibition and excitation, convey the diversity of medicinal modes action. The actual drug design process is illustrated later on through the stages of development of specific drugs, in which the reader is provided with an overview of the modification options that elicit better binding to the target molecule. The later chapters of "An Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry" offer a many opportunities for more in-depth study.

It is amazing how well-crafted explanations paired with appropriate graphics can enable a reader with essentially no background in biochemistry to become familiar with drug design. For this reason, this book can be recommended both beginning and advanced students, whether they envision a career in medicinal chemistry or are just pursuing an interest in this exciting field.

Contents

GENERAL PRINCIPLES
1 Drugs and the medicinal chemist
2 The why and the wherefore
3 Protein structure
4 Drug action at enzymes
5 Drug action at receptors
6 Receptor
7 Nucleic acids
8 Drug discovery and drug development
9 Drug design - drug/target interactions
10 Pharmacokinetics
11 Quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR)
12 Combinatorial synthesis
13 Computers in medicinal chemistry
TOPICS
14 Antibacterial agents
15 The peripheral nervous system-cholinergics, anticholinergics, and anticholinesterases
16 The adrenergic nervous system
17 The opium analgesics
18 Cimetidine - a rational approach to drug design
Appendices
Glossary
Further reading
Index