An Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry

This text is aimed at undergraduates who have a basic grounding in chemistry and are interested in a future career in the pharmaceutical industry. It attempts to convey something of the fascination of working in a field which overlaps the disciplines of chemistry, biochemistry, cell biology, and pharmacology. No previous knowledge of biology is assumed and the first six chapters cover the basics of cell structure, proteins, and nucleic acids as applied to drug design.

Chapters 7, 8, and 9 describe the general tactics employed in developing an effective drug and also the difficulties faced by the medicinal chemist in this task. Chapters 10, 11, and 12 cover three particular areas of medicinal chemistry and are representative of the classifications which prevail in medicinal chemistry. By doing this, it is hoped that the advantages and disadvantages of the various classification schemes are exemplified.

The three areas of medicinal chemistry described in Chapters 10, 11, and 12 have long histories and much of the early development of these drugs relied heavily on random variations of lead compounds on a trial and error basis. This approach is wasteful and the future of medicinal chemistry lies in the rational design of drugs based on a firm understanding of their biology and chemistry. The development of the antiulcer drug cimetidine represents one of the best examples of the rational approach to medicinal chemistry and is covered in Chapter 13.