This course provides the students with the theoretical knowledge and technical skills and introduce them to the structure and properties of pharmaceutical agents and metabolites. The course outlines the structure, bonding and chemical reactivity of various important classes of organic molecules, ranging from simpler examples of hydrocarbons or those containing a single functional group, to some of the important biological molecules such as carbohydrates, nucleic acids and proteins. Topics include basic concepts in medicinal chemistry: 1) the drug discovery and development process, 2) review of organic functional groups found in drug molecules, 3) drug-target interactions, 4) physicochemical properties related to drug action such as acid-base properties, equilibrium, and stereochemistry, 5) Effect of chemical structure on the metabolism of drug molecules.
