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.