Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry B.Pharmacy 4th Semester Unit-I Notes

• Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry
• History and development of medicinal chemistry
• Physicochemical properties in relation to biological action
• Ionization, Solubility, Partition Coefficient, Hydrogen bonding, Protein binding, Chelation, Bioisosterism, Optical and Geometrical isomerism.
• Drug metabolism
• Drug metabolism principles- Phase I and Phase II. 
• Factors affecting drug metabolism including stereo chemical aspects

Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry

Medicinal chemistry is the chemistry discipline concerned with the design, development and synthesis of pharmaceutical drugs. The discipline combines expertise from chemistry and pharmacology to identify, develop and synthesize chemical agents that have a therapeutic use and to evaluate the properties of existing drugs.

In easy, Medicinal Chemistry is the branch of science which deals with the design of new and better compound which must be more therapeutically active and development of these chemicals into a new medicine and drugs.

In medicinal chemistry a chemist deal on making a new compound, observe its effects on biological processes and make changes in the chemical structure of drug to get more therapeutic action and less side effects. and also studies the distribution, metabolism and excretion of that drug in the body.

Drugs: Organic or Inorganic compounds and biomolecules (protein, antibodies, etc.) that activates or inhibits the function of a target with benefit to the patient.

Compounds/drugs classification on basis of origin:

1. Natural compound
2. Synthetic compound
3. Semisynthetic compound

Drugs classification on basis of medicinal uses:

1. Pharmacodynamics agents: These act on various physiological function of body.
2. Chemotherapeutic agents: These fights against pathogens.