OVERVIEW

Medicinal chemistry concerns the discovery, the development, the identification and the interpretation of the mode of action of biologically active compounds, at the molecular level. These expertise characterize the role of the pharmacist, the healthcare professional expert in drugs.

The drug-discovery process as well as the structure-activity relationships of  different classes of chemotherapeutic agents and hormones (peptide and steroidal) are presented in the course.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The learning outcomes of the course include:

1. acquisition of the theoretical basis to understand the computational techniques and the synthetic strategies currently used in the drug-discovery process;
2. acquisition of specific and professionalizing skills on the structure-activity relationships of the presented drug classes.

PREREQUISITES

To effectively address the contents of the course, preliminary knowledge of organic chemistry is required. In this perspective, the prerequisites reported in the Teaching Regulations of the Degree Courses in "Pharmacy" and "Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology" have been defined.

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam is organized in two oral tests (about 45 minutes each) on the topics covered in the two modules of the course. The student should pass (grade ≥ 18/30) the module of " chimica farmaceutica generale" before accessing the part of "chimica farmaceutica 1".

The grade of “chimica farmaceutica generale" will be considered valid for 6 months. During this period, the student can take the exam of the “chimica farmaceutica 1" module.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The oral interviews will focus on the topics covered during the lectures of the two modules and will aim to evaluate:

1. knowledge of the topics;
2. use of a proper language with particular reference to scientific terminology;
3. the ability to correlate the various topics within the different steps of the “drug-discovery” process;
4. knowledge of chemical formalism in the representation of structures and reaction mechanisms;
5. clarity of exposition;
6. the ability to critically analyse the structure-activity relationships defined for the presented drug families.