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Synthetic Medicinal Chemistry

CHEM3115

The development of new pharmaceuticals fundamentally relies on the ability to design and synthesize new compounds. Synthesis is an enabling discipline for medicinal chemistry - without it, the development of new drugs cannot progress from design to implementation, and ultimately to a cure. This unit will tackle important factors in drug design, and will highlight the current arsenal of methods used in the discovery of new drugs, including rational drug design, high throughput screening and combinatorial chemistry. We will develop a logical approach to planning a synthesis of a particular target structure. The synthesis and chemistry of heterocycles, which comprise some 40% of all known organic compounds and are particularly common in pharmaceuticals, will be outlined. Examples will include important ring systems present in biological systems, such as pyrimidines and purines (DNA and RNA), imidazole and thiazole (amino acids and vitamins) and porphyrins (natural colouring substances and oxygen carrying component of blood). Throughout the course, the utility of synthesis in medicinal chemistry will be illustrated with case studies such as anti-influenza (Relenza), anaesthetic (benzocaine), anti-inflammatory (Vioxx), antihypertensive (pinacidil) and cholesterol-lowering (Lovastatin) drugs.

Unit of study details

Unit of study level: Senior

Credit points: 6

Commencing semesters: 2

Further unit of study information

Unit of study handbook: CHEM3115

Costs and scholarships information: Costs and Scholarships

Final dates to withdraw from units of study: Census Dates

Available for study abroad and exchange: Yes

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