Pharmaceutical Chemistry

About this book

• Supports integrated pharmacy education, so that students are learning in a professionally relevant context from day one.
• Focuses on the fundamental ideas that first year students need to fully grasp before progressing with more advanced study.
• Material clearly demonstrates connections between scientific concepts and principles and how they are applied to pharmacy.
• Written by subject experts and edited by academics with a wealth of teaching experience.

Taking medication is a common occurrence for many people, whether it is to soothe an aching head, regulate blood sugars, or to treat life threatening conditions, such as HIV or cancer. In the UK alone, over 900 million prescriptions are dispensed every year. Overseeing all of this are pharmacists: experts in medicines and their use.

The Integrated Foundations of Pharmacy series supports those who are at the beginning of their journey to become a pharmacist. The reader will begin to understand how a drug molecule is made; the process that turns it into a medicine; the role the pharmacist has when dispensing that medicine; and what happens in the body when it is taken. Most importantly, the series shows how each of these aspects are integrated, reflecting the most up-to-date teaching practices.

Pharmaceutical Chemistry provides a wide-ranging overview of organic chemistry as applied to the study and practice of pharmacy. Drugs are simply chemicals, so to fully understand their manufacture, formulation, and the way they work in our bodies, an understanding of organic compounds and their reactions is essential.

Online Resource Centre
The Online Resource Centre to accompany Pharmaceutical Chemistry features:

For registered adopters of the book:
- Figures from the book, available to download.

For students:
- Self-assessment questions to help the reader to check and reinforce understanding of the material introduced in each chapter.
- Related addtional resources.

Readership: The Integrated Foundations of Pharmacy series is suitable for pharmacy undergraduates studying introductory courses in pharmaceutical chemistry, therapeutics and human physiology, pharmaceutics, and pharmacy practice.

Table of contents

1: The importance of pharmaceutical chemistry
1.1Chemical structures and nomenclature
1.2The human test tube
1.3More test tubes: plants and microorganisms
1.4Glass and plastic test tubes
1.5From test tube to pharmaceutical

2: Organic structure and bonding
2.1What is organic chemistry?
2.2The shape of molecules
2.3The electronic configuration of carbon
2.4The shape of organic molecules
2.5Intermolecular forces
2.6Reactions types and the making and breaking of bonds
2.7The principles of organic reaction mechanisms

3: Stereochemistry and drug action
3.1Introduction
3.2Constitutional Isomerism
3.3Conformational Isomerism
3.4Stereoisomerism
3.5Protein folding diseases

4: Properties of aliphatic hydrocarbons
4.1Nomenclature
4.2Physical properties of aliphatic hydrocarbons
4.3Alkanes
4.4Alkenes
4.5Alkynes
4.6Hydrocarbons in pharmacy

5: Alcohols, phenols, ethers, organic halogen compounds, and amines
5.1The hydroxyl group
5.2Polyhydric Alcohols
5.3Phenols
5.4Ethers
5.5Haloalkanes and other organic halogen compounds
5.6Aromatic halogen compounds
5.7Polyhalogen Compounds
5.8Amines
5.9Quaternary Ammonium Compounds

6: The carbonyl group and its chemistry
6.1Carbonyl structure and nomenclature
6.2The power of the carbonyl group
6.3Reactions of carbonyl compounds - Nucleophilic nucleophilic attack on carbon
6.4?-substitution reactions
6.5Carbonyls in the body
6.6Carbonyls in drugs - opportunities and problems

7: Introduction to aromatic chemistry
7.1What is aromatic chemistry?
7.2Why is aromatic chemistry important?
7.3The chemistry of benzene
7.4The synthesis of drugs
7.5Aromatic chemistry in the body

8: Inorganic chemistry in pharmacy
8.1Concepts in inorganic chemistry
8.2Metals: introduction
8.3Group 1 Metals
8.4Group 2 Metals
8.5Phosphorus
8.6Sulfur
8.7Precious metals

9: The chemistry of biologically important macromolecules
9.1Small molecules versus large molecules
9.2Nucleic Acids and Nucleosides
9.3Proteins
9.4Carbohydrates
9.5Lipids

10: Origins of drug molecules
10.1Drugs, dyes and cleaning fluid: similarities and differences
10.2Aspirin
10.3Opioid analgesics
10.4Antibiotics
10.5Anticancer agents
10.6Hormones
10.7Purification methods

11: Introduction to pharmaceutical analysis
11.1Quality control of pharmaceuticals and formulated products
11.2The electromagnetic spectrum
11.3Ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry
11.4Infrared Spectroscopy
11.5Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Spectroscopy
11.6Mass Spectrometry
11.7Gas Liquid Chromatography - GLC

12: The molecular characteristics of good drugs
12.1Chemists and 'rules'
12.2The Rule of Five - an empirical rule
12.3Stereochemistry
12.4Purity