Compendium of Medicinal Chemistry
Lídia Moreira Lima e Angelo da Cunha Pinto (eds.)
Defined by IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) as a chemistry-based discipline, also involving aspects of biological, medical and pharmaceutical sciences, Medicinal Chemistry is concerned with the invention, discovery, design, identification and preparation of biologically active compounds; the study of their metabolism, the interpretation of their mode of action at the molecular level and the construction of structure-activity relationships. This definition exemplifies the diversity and complexity of the research activities in Medicinal Chemistry and denotes its interdisciplinary feature.
This e-Book titled Compendium of Medicinal Chemistry brings a series of articles first published in the special issue of Virtual Journal of Chemistry (in Portuguese: Revista Virtual de Química, RVQ, ISSN: 1984-6835, http://www.uff.br/RVQ/index.php/rvq), coordinated in tribute to Professor Antonio Monge, a renowned Medicinal Chemist [Revista Virtual de Química 2013, 5 (6), 1051-1208]. Others Medicinal Chemistry’s articles published in RVQ from 2009 until 2014 were updated and selected to compose this e-Book. Readers will find fifteen chapters concerning relevant subjects in Medicinal Chemistry field, including: aspects related to innovation in pharmaceuticals; the concept of lead-compound; an introduction in molecular modeling; a review of G-protein coupled receptors; an appraisal of protein tyrosine kinases as targets for anticancer therapy; a review of Alzheimer’s Disease; the role of carbohydrates in Medicinal Chemistry; quinoxaline scaffold and its use in the synthesis of bioactive compounds, and so on.
The Compendium of Medicinal Chemistry e-Book is the second of a series of electronic books, bringing together articles published in RVQ (http://www.uff.br/RVQ/index.php/rvq).
We would like to thank all the authors for their scientific contributions and the National Institute of Science and Technology in Drugs and Medicines (INCT-INOFAR, http://www.inct-inofar.ccs.ufrj.br/) for the partnership, support and for sponsored this e-Book.
To all the readers wishes for a productive and stimulating reading,
Dr Lídia Moreira Lima
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)
Dr Angelo C. Pinto
Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)