Medicinal Chemistry

Cheminformatics is also used extensively in “combichem” approaches to drug discovery
(see chapter 3). If a high throughput assay is available for a particular disease, then it is
possible to screen a large library of small-molecule compounds through this screen to
identify a potential lead candidate. A problem central to this approach is to verify that
the library of small molecules possesses true molecular diversity and that the molecules
contained within the library contain all possible functional groups displayed systemat-
ically in three-dimensional space. Cheminformatics calculations based on molecular
modeling and quantum pharmacology methods may be used to verify that the library of
compounds truly has comprehensive molecular diversity.
When used in harmony, bioinformatics and cheminformatics are a powerful combi-
nation of computer-intensive techniques which will grow in power over the coming
decade as information-handling technologies improve in sophistication. Currently,
these two informatics techniques represent the most rapidly growing technology in the
future of drug design.

Selected References

General Organic Chemistry Textbooks

W. Brown, C. Foote (2002). Organic Chemistry,3rd ed. New York: Harcourt.
J. Clayden, N. Greeves, S. Warren, P. Wothers (2001). Organic Chemistry. New York: Oxford.
M. A. Fox, J. K. Whitesell (2004). Organic Chemistry,3rd ed. Toronto: Jones and Bartlett.
G. Solomons, C. Fryhle (2002). Organic Chemistry, 7th ed. New York: John Wiley.

General Medicinal Chemistry Textbooks

J. N. Delgado, W. A. Remers (1998). Wilson and Gisvold’s Textbook of Organic, Medicinal and
Pharmaceutical Chemistry, 10th ed. New York: Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins.
D. G. Grahame-Smith, J. K. Aronson (2002). Textbook of Clinical Pharmacology and Drug
Therapy. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.
R. B. Silverman (2004). The Organic Chemistry of Drug Design and Drug Action, 2nd ed.
San Diego: Academic Press.
D. A. Wilkins, T. L. Lemke (2002). Foye’s Principles of Medicinal Chemistry, 5th ed. New York:
Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins.

PROPERTIES OF DRUG MOLECULES

A. Albert (1985). Selective Toxicity,7th ed. London: Chapman and Hall.
A. Albert, E. Serjeant (1984). The Determination of Ionization Constants,3rd ed. London:
Chapman and Hall.
E. J. Ariëns, W. Soudijn, P. Timmermans (Eds.) (1983). Stereochemistry and Biological Activity
of Drugs. Oxford: Blackwell.
E. J. Ariëns (1984). Stereochemistry, a basis for sophisticated nonsense in pharmacokinetics and
clinical pharmacology. Eur. J. Clin. Pharmacol. 26: 663–668.
E. J. Ariëns (1986). Chirality in bioactive agents and its pitfalls. Trends Pharmacol. Sci. 7 : 200–205.
A. Balaban, A. Chiriac, J. Motoc, Z. Simon (1980). Steric Fit in Quantitative Structure–Activity
Relations. Berlin: Springer.
E. Blackwood, C. L. Gladys, K. L. Leering, A. E. Petrarca, J. K. Rush (1968). Unambiguous
specification of stereoisomerism about a double bond. J. Amer. Chem. Soc. 90: 509–510.

DRUG MOLECULES: STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES 63