The Drug Molecule: properties and synthesis

The course ‘The Drug Molecule’ consists of three parts. The first part (weeks 1-6) is focused on theoretical aspects to understand the chemical properties of drug molecules. The second part (weeks 7-8) consists of working on the project ‘the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of a new drug against bacterial infections’ (project I). Finally, weeks 9 and 10 focus on an overall-analysis of ‘the drug design process’, e.g. all aspects of drug design and development, as mentioned in courses A-D, should be discussed in a final project (project II).

With respect to the first part: at the beginning of each week, we will start with a ‘wicked problems?’ meeting in which the students must define their own learning goals. Tuesdays and Thursdays will be used for self-study, interspersed with feedback meetings with the teachers on a ‘when-needed’ basis. Lab-work is scheduled on every Wednesday, and there will also be possibilities to illustrate theoretical aspects by several demonstration experiments. The Fridays will be used for ‘reflection on tasks’ meetings, ‘peer and self-assessment’ sessions, and a weekly ‘summary and outlook’ discussion.

 

In this course you will learn to understand which chemical properties play a role in the mode of action of drugs and drug-like molecules. Topics that will be discussed include: structure of atoms and molecules, types and properties of functional groups, acid-base properties/equilibrium, reaction kinetics and thermodynamics, thermodynamics of drug binding, physicochemical properties of drug molecules (logP, logD, pKa), chemical reactivity and organic synthesis, stereochemistry and conformations, drug-target interaction, biomolecules.