Registry

Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2012 - 2013
Please note that this information is subject to change.

Module Title	Medicinal Chemistry
Module Code	CS311
School	School of Chemical Sciences
Online Module Resources
Module Co-ordinator	Semester 1: Kieran Nolan Semester 2: Kieran Nolan Autumn: Kieran Nolan
Module Teacher	Kieran Nolan
NFQ level	8	Credit Rating	5
Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

Description

To introduce students to drug action. To introduce students to the basic concepts of drug design and what physicochemical properties of a molecule are important in therapeutic action. To introduce students to empirical methods which are used in drug design and invention. To introduce students to the important principles of drug delivery and what biological factors affect these processes. To introduce students to elementary pharmacokinetics and drug metabolism

Learning Outcomes

1. Recognise the importance of understanding the biological nature of a disease in order to develop effective drug treatments.
2. Use both structure activity relationships and quantitative structure activity relationships to develop new drug candidates.
3. Value the importance of bioavailability in the discovery of new drug candidates.
4. Use modern synthetic methods and strategies to create libraries of molecules for drug screening.

Workload	Full-time hours per semester
*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Lecture	36	No Description
Directed learning	24	Practice of sample questions
Independent learning	65	No Description
Total Workload: 125

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

Introduction.
Review of Drug action, classification, sources and development and production.Drug Design: Conformation, stereochemistry, configuration.Structure-activity Relationships (SAR/QSAR) - Shape and size, substituents, partition coefficients, Hammett constants, Taft steric parameters, Methods based on Hansch and related approaches.Empirical Drug Design : Search for Lead Compounds; Natural Sources/Serendipity; Systematic Search; Combinatorial Libraries. Chemical Aspects of Drug Delivery: An integral part of drug action/design. Solubilities, pKa's and pH will be discussed and it's effect on drug design.Biological Membranes and Enzymes: Impact on drug design. Distribution, Elementary Pharmacokinetics and Drug Metabolism: Use in drug design. Specific examples of drugs will be used..

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment	0%	Examination Weight	100%

Course Work Breakdown
Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date

Reassessment Requirement
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; 1 = A resit is available for all components of the module 2 = No resit is available for 100% continuous assessment module 3 = No resit is available for the continuous assessment component
This module is category 1

Indicative Reading List

Other Resources

None

Array

Programme or List of Programmes

BSc in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sc.

BSSA

Study Abroad (DCU Business School)

BSSAO

Study Abroad (DCU Business School)

ECSA

Study Abroad (Engineering & Computing)