what is medicinal chemistry?

Answer 1

Medicinal Chemistry is a scientific discipline at the intersection of chemistry and pharmacy involved with designing and developing pharmaceutical drugs. Medicinal chemistry involves the identification, synthesis and development of new chemical entities suitable for therapeutic use. It also includes the study of existing drugs, their biological properties, and their quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR).

Another definition:
A chemistry-based discipline, also involving aspects of biological, medical and pharmaceutical sciences. It is concerned with the invention, discovery, design, identification and preparation of biologically active compounds, the study of their metabolism, the interpretation of their mode of action at the molecular level and the construction of structure-activity relationships.

Answer 2

My understanding of medicinal chemistry, although never having been priveledged enough to read the subject in great detail, is a symbiosis between medicine and chemisrty.

There is no point, for example in developing a drug to speed up photosynthesis, as humans do not photosynthesize!

Pharmacology is the study of the manner in which chemicals interact with body symptoms.

Biochemistry is the study of chemical processes within living things (be it plant, animal or bacteria).

Medicinal chemistry is the study of chemicals, and development of chemicals that will have pharmaceutical properties. I would however combine with something such as combinatorial chemistry as most drug design is done on computers these days (allowing high throughput screening)

Answer 3

This is not a widely used term. Medical chemistry or biochemistry describes and explains medical abnormalities, pathologies, illnesses etc at the level of chemical reactions and interactions. However, depending on the context in which you have seen medicinal chemistry used it could mean the chemistry of how medicines work. The usual term would be pharmacology and sometimes toxicology.

Answer 4

medicinal chemistry is different to pharmacology and other such things, however closely linked. It is possible to study med chem and pharmacy as different subjects in college.

"The interface between chemistry and biology is an outstandingly active and exciting area of science, which is also of great practical and economic importance. The pharmaceutical industry, which is centered at this interface, is one of the largest and fastest-growing business sectors in the modern world. Being among the most “knowledge-based” of industries, it requires an intensive investment in research and development, much of which is carried out by chemists who participate in the development of new drug molecules or (of particular relevance to the Irish industry) develop the processes needed for large-scale manufacture. The Moderatorship in Medicinal Chemistry affords a broadly based scientific education, applicable to a variety of later careers, but is especially tuned to providing the creative talent needed by this major employer"

Answer 5

Please see the webpage and Google search for more details on Medicinal chemistry.

Answer 6

ask your doctor

Answer 7

very, very dull ;-)