Pharmaceutical Chemistry Flashcards
What are drugs?
Substances that alter the biochemical processes in the body.
Drugs that have beneficial effects are used in?
Medicines
A medicine usually contains?
The drug plus other ingredients such as fillers to add bulk or sweeteners to improve the taste.
Drugs generally work by?
Binding to specific protein molecules. These protein molecules can be found on the surface of a cell (receptor) or can be specific enzyme molecules within a cell.
Drugs that act on receptors can be classified as?
Agonists or antagonists
What does an agonist do?
Mimics the natural compound and binds to the receptor molecules to produce a response similar to the natural active compound.
What does an antagonist do?
Prevents the natural compound from binding to the receptor, and so blocks the natural response from occurring.
Many drugs that act on enzymes are classified as?
Enzyme inhibitors
How do enzyme inhibitors act?
Act by binding to the active site of the enzyme and blocking the reaction normally catalysed there.
The overall shape and size of a drug is such that it interacts with? The types of interactions that could be formed are?
A receptor binding site or the active site of an enzyme. The types of interactions formed can include van der Waals forces and/or ionic bonds
What does a drug molecule have that allows it to form interactions with a receptor binding site or to an enzyme active site normally consists of different what does this normally consist of?
A structural fragment
Functional groups correctly orientated with respect to each other.
By comparing the structures of drugs that have similar effects on the body what can be identified?
The structural fragment that is involved in the drug action
