Pharmaceutical chemistry

Question 1

What are drugs?

Answer 1

substances that alter the biomedical processes in the body

Question 2

What are drugs that have benificial effects used in?

Answer 2

medicines

Question 3

How do drugs work?

Answer 3

by binding to specific protein molecules.
These protein molecules can be found in the surface of a cell (receptor) or can be specific enzyme molecules within a cell

Question 4

Drugs that act on receptors can be classified as what?

Answer 4

agonists or antagonists

Question 5

What does an agonist do?

Answer 5

mimics the natural compound and binds to the receptor molecules to produce a response similar to the natural active compound

Question 6

What does an antagonist do?

Answer 6

Prevents the natural compound from binding to the receptor and so blocks the natural response from occurring

Question 7

What are many drugs that act on enzymes classified as?

Answer 7

enzyme inhibitors and act by binding to the active site of the enzyme and blocking the reaction normally catalysed there

Question 8

What is the shape and size of a drug dependent on?

Answer 8

it is of a shape and size that means it can interact with a receptor binding site or to the active site of an enzyme.
The types if interactions formed can include van der waals forces and/or ionic bonds

Question 9

What does the structural fragment of a drug molecule that allows it to form jnteractions with a receptor binding site or to an enzyme active site normally consist of?

Answer 9

different functional groups correctly orientated with respect to each other

Question 10

How can the structural fragment that is involved in the drug action be identified?

Answer 10

by comparing the structures of drugs that have similar effects kn the body

Question 11

what is the structural fragment that all molecules which fit inti the binding site of a receptor protein called?

Answer 11

the pharmacore