Handbook

This course is focused on the principles of medicinal chemistry and highlights its importance in the world. It will provide an insight into how new drugs are developed, from the design stage to eventual introduction into the clinic, using case studies of successful drugs. It will emphasise the processes required to optimise chemicals to ensure that they have appropriate drug properties. Synthesis of new organic molecules is a core skill that lies at the heart of medicinal chemistry and as such, advanced synthetic methodologies and strategies will be introduced.

Topics to be covered in this course include computational organic chemistry and biochemistry, synthesis and optimization of heterocyclic drugs, and drug delivery.

The course is based on a series of face-to-face lectures, tutorials, workshops and laboratory classes delivered by academic staff from the School of Chemistry.

This course builds on the fundamental medicinal chemistry knowledge taught in CHEM1151 and organic synthetic strategies taught in CHEM3021. By the end of this course the students would have gained a sound knowledge of modern medicinal chemistry.