• Students only need to buy one text for this course as this book presents a complete course in medicinal chemistry.
• The author's accessible and engaging writing style introduces the material in a clear yet authoritative manner.
• The review of key biological and biochemical concepts makes the book truly accessible to a broad range of students with varying backgrounds.
• The modern two colour design enlivens the figures and the text, making this text student-friendly.
• An Online Resource Centre features additional resources for both lecturers and students.

New to this edition

• Topical Case Studies introduce the latest research and techniques which are developed further in subsequent chapters.

Readership: Undergraduate chemistry students taking core or optional modules in medicinal chemistry as part of a broad chemistry degree or more specialised medicinal or pharmaceutical chemistry programme. Also of interest to pharmacy students and postgraduates who have a basic grounding in chemistry and are interested in a future career in the pharmaceutical industry.

Graham L. Patrick, Lecturer in Organic Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley

"Patrick's 3rd edition was a fantastic teaching aid at both BSc, MSc level and for postgraduates in medicinal chemistry. The 4th edition promises to be even better with the addition of en vogue areas of medicinal chemistry including protein-protein interactions and case studies of important blockbuster drugs. A fantastic achievement." - John Spencer, University of Greenwich

"Overall organisation is improved over the previous edition, and there is a logical progression from general concepts and history to specific therapeutic areas. There is good coverage of recent developments and the case studies are a very good addition as students find that going through case studies is an effective way of learning the principles of medicinal chemistry" - A. Ganesan, University of Southampton

Review(s) from previous edition

"Patrick provides a useful and comprehensive introduction to Medicinal Chemistry. It is appropriate for undergraduate level teaching, but also a valuable resource at a more advanced level. The main strength of the book is the breadth of material covered and the accessibility in which the material is presented. - Gerd Wagner, University of East Anglia

Review(s) from previous edition

"Medicinal Chemistry is excellent-- the best available for undergraduate teaching. Graham is a superb teacher and it shows in the very user-friendly style of the text. - Colin Fishwick, University of Leeds

1.: Drugs and drug targets: an overview
PART A: Drug targets: Structure and Function
2.: Protein structure and function
3.: Enzymes: structure and function
4.: Receptors: structure and function
5.: Receptors and signal transduction
6.: Nucleic acids: structure and function
PART B: Pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics
7.: Enzymes as drug targets
8.: Receptors as drug targets
9.: Nucleic acids as drug targets
10.: Other drug targets
11.: Pharmacokinetics and related topics
Case study 1: Statins
PART C: Drug discovery, design, and development
12.: Drug discovery: finding a lead
13.: Drug design: optimizing target interactions
14.: Drug design: optimizing access to the target
15.: Getting the drug to market
Case study 2: The design of ACE inhibitors
Case study 3: Artemisinin and related antimalarial drugs
Case study 4: The design of oxamniquine
PART D: Tools of the trade
16.: Combinatorial synthesis
17.: Computers in medicinal chemistry
18.: Quantitative structure-activity relationships (QSAR)
Case study 5: De novo design of a thymidylate synthase inhibitor
Case study 6: Design of a serotonin antagonist as a possible anxiolytic agent
PART E: Selected topics in medicinal chemistry
19.: Antibacterial agents
20.: Antiviral agents
21.: Anticancer agents
22.: Cholinergics, anticholinergics, and anticholinesterases
23.: Drugs acting on the adrenergic nervous system
24.: The opium analgesics
25.: Anti-ulcer agents
Case Study 7: Design of a novel antidepressant