The Organic Chemistry of Drug Design and Drug Action, Second Edition

The Organic Chemistry of Drug Design and Drug Action, Second Edition Summary:

By Richard B. Silverman Ph.D Organic Chemistry

Publisher:   Academic Press

Number Of Pages:   617

Publication Date:   2004-01-26

ISBN-10 / ASIN:   0126437327

ISBN-13 / EAN:   9780126437324

Product Description:

Standard medicinal chemistry courses and texts are organized by classes of drugs with an emphasis on descriptions of their biological and pharmacological effects. This book represents a new approach based on physical organic chemical principles and reaction mechanisms that rationalize drug action and allow the reader to extrapolate to many related classes of drug molecules.

The Second Edition reflects the significant changes in the drug industry over the past decade, and now includes color illustrations, chapter problems, and other elements that make concepts easier to understand. * Organic chemist's perspective of how drugs are designed and function * Teaches organic chemists and biochemists the fundamentals of drug design and drug action using drugs as examples * Extensive use of references to the primary and secondary literature for more in depth reading about all concepts * Extensive use of structures, schemes, and figures to illustrate points * Explanations of dual-acting drugs * Problem sets and answers for each topic * Casual writing style * Author has published over 200 articles in the areas of synthesis, bioorganic chemistry, and medicinal chemistry, has been awarded 21 patents, and has invented a drug that is under consideration for commercialization.

Summary: Fantastic Book for chemists and medicinal chemists Rating: 5

Some books of this nature tend to focus on the synthesis of drug molecules and less about how they work and why. This book is just the opposite and walks the reader through a logical progression of drug discovery, design and target specificity. This book makes a great introduction to Goodman & Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics which could be considered the bible of the subject.

Summary: Good book with few flaws Rating: 4

The book is great for understanding the title subject. But it has too many references which distracts the reader. Also, many times, the corresponding picture of a particular topic covered is not in the same page as the topic. This requires going back and forth between pages. The problems at the end of each chapter are really good and checks the understanding of the subject thoroughly.

Summary: Outstanding... Rating: 5

This is probably the best book of its kind in the vast and multidisciplinary field of drug design and action. Richard Silverman is an acclaimed chemistry Professor at Northwestern University, and in this book, he provides the most comprehensive and lucid exposition of the chemical basis of drug action that I have seen. No matter how complicated biological systems and their interactions are, at the basic level, it's all chemistry, and mostly organic chemistry. An organic chemist will find this book extremely illuminating in a way that would not have been made clear through his traditional education. The book opens with a short but clear discussion of drug discovery, combinatorial chemistry, and clinical testing and trials. Then it leads the reader through a variety of enzyme catalyzed reactions, with examples of major drugs studded all the way. Silverman shows us how nature is the master organic chemist, employing the familiar reactions of chemistry in an unsurpassed way. The chapter on enzyme inhibition is long and detailed, and it's breathtaking. Which is important because almost all major drugs act by inhibiting enzymes. The examples which Silverman chooses to illustrate are both important (including many bestselling anti-cancer, anti-viral, and antibiotic drugs to name a few), as well as very interesting. The last parts of the book deal with DNA binding drugs, and with pathways of drug metabolism and excretion. Along all the way, the emphasis is on the chemical reactions that drugs undergo, which after all is what controls their properties. The lucidity of the book is such that a beginning graduate well-versed with the basic principles of general and organic chemistry can easily understand all the contents. This book is so interesting and illuminating that it's one of the very few academic books which I have actually read from the first to the last page, with every word in between. In fact, it even makes great bedside reading! Truly a must-have book for all chemists and biologists of every kind, interested in how drugs work.

Summary: Excellent Rating: 4

This book is fantastic and covers a broad range of topics that fall into the category of rational drug design. The book goes in depth into topics dealing with each important aspect of how drugs are discovered and modified to produce better drugs: from effects of chirality to electronic effects. The structure of drugs, at the molecular level are covered in detail, reflecting every major aspect of drug structure. Then, interaction between drug (ligand) and enzyme, at the molecular level are covered. In my estimation, to benefit most from this book, the reader should have a working knowledge of organic chemistry and biochemistry (at least protein secondary and tertiary structure).

Summary: Check out the new edition of this book Rating: 5

There is a new considerably expanded and updated edition available of Silverman's already classic text as of Jan/04. ISBN is 0-12-643732-7. Check it out... price is comparable to the earlier edition.

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