Medicinal chemistry practical part

In the theoretical part of the Medicinal Chemistry course (FA-CPS312T), you will learn about all aspects of Medicinal Chemistry including discovery, design and synthesis. However, reactions on paper can be very different from reactions in the lab. Therefore, practical experience with reactions commonly used in Medicinal Chemistry are important for gaining in-depth knowledge about the challenges and pitfalls in organic synthesis. In this course, you will gain knowledge and lab skills that are important for the practical part of Medicinal Chemistry and you will learn to design and synthesise your own molecule.

The first part of this course (weeks 1-5) will be focussed on extending the lab skills you gained in Organic Chemistry 2 and learning to perform new reactions such as Grignard and Ugi reaction. You will individually perform one or two reactions per week, which will also be discussed in the
theoretical part of this course. During the second part (weeks 6-10), you will use the reactions you’ve learned to synthesise your own ‘drug’ molecule in a group. This “Puzzle Project” allows you to come up with a multi-step synthesis for a molecule you design and to combine reaction.

To pass this course, you must have successfully synthesized Boc-Phe-OH, N-Benzyl-1-(2,4-dimethoxyphenyl)methanamine, N-Benzylglycine methyl ester, a peptoid building block, a dipeptide and diketopiperazine, an Ugi-product, Nitrazepam, and at least 3 characterized intermediates of Fingolimod. The student must also hand in all reports and answers to problem questions.
The student must complete all experiments individually during the course.