Macquarie University

Medicinal Chemistry - CBMS706

This unit covers modern methods used for the discovery and development of new drugs. Topics covered include: the structure and function of biological targets; sources of new drugs or drug leads from nature and synthesis; methods to identify what structural features are important for biological activity (structure-activity relationship); what happens to a drug in the body and how it interacts with its biological target in (pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics); and how to make more active, selective or less toxic drugs. This is followed by an introduction to combinatorial chemistry and chemoinformatics and case studies on the development of famous drugs. The theory is complemented by a laboratory-based project on the development and structure-activity relationship of antibacterial agents, incorporating synthetic chemistry, spectroscopic methods and bioassays. There is also an introduction to computational chemistry that compliments the laboratory program. This will involve the basic principles of molecular visualisation, structure building and editing using the MOE program. The computational workshops will also cover QSAR, pharmacophore identification, docking and in silico drug screening and other topics that vary from year to year.

Timetable Information

For unit timetable information and session dates for external offerings please visit the Timetables@Macquarie Website.