Today's top selling drugs have been uncovered from two major sources: natural products and laboratory synthesis. Those synthesised directly by medicinal chemists usually have been the result of a protracted discovery programme using a natural product (e.g. a hormone or an enzyme substrate) or a screening lead as a starting point. Many of the major categories of human disease cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, central nervous system, inflammatory and infectious diseases are included. After a short introduction to the discovery and mechanism of action of each drug, the syntheses of the best...

Solvents other than water are used in chemical analysis, chemical manufacturing, and in specialized syntheses. This book covers the principles and uses of non-aqueous solvents at a level suitable for first or second-year undergraduates. The book first discusses the general properties of solvents, and introduces the necessary concepts for making rational choices of solvents for different applications. There is a discussion of the various chemical interactions between solvents and the substances dissolved in them, and how solvents change the course of reactions. The chemistry of 16 common...

Here is the definitive introduction to polymer chemistry. This lively book takes the reader through the historical beginnings of polymers, the development of high-tonnage materials in the early part of the twentieth century, and on to the most modern high-performance materials available today. The authors are both experience educators and practitioners within the polymer industry and are uniquely qualified to discuss basic academic principles of polymers as well as their commercial application. Unlike other texts in this area, it successfully describes the exciting principles and varied...

Polymorphism - the multiplicity of structures or forms - is a term that is used in many disciplines. In chemistry it refers to the existence of more than one crystal structure for a particular chemical substance. The properties of a substance are determined by its composition and by its structure. In the last two decades, there has been a sharp rise in the interest in polymorphic systems, as an intrinsically interesting phenomenon and as an increasingly important component in the development and marketing of a variety of materials based on organic molecules (e.g. pharmaceuticals, dyes and...

The general principles of polar rearrangements are brought together in this text, which deals with all the major rearrangements involving electron-deficient atoms or charged intermediates. Reactions involving migration to electron-deficient carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur, and sigmatropic rearrangements involving polar species, are thus treated in a coherent and consistent manner. Clear discussions of the reaction mechanisms are followed by examples of synthetic applications providing a concise yet comprehensive account of the nature of and importance of these processes.

Artificial intelligence is not just about making machines think; it is also a powerful problem-solving tool. Many scientific problems can be solved only with difficulty using conventional methods, yet these same problems may be ideally suited to attack using artificial intelligence. This book, for college-level students in any science discipline, introduces these intriguing and powerful techniques, and discusses their growing impact upon science.

The world is not at equilibrium, and the events that give vitality and movement are transitions towards equilibrium from the present state of imbalance. This text examines the chemical transformations that often contribute fundamentally to this process. The book begins with a basic introduction to the kinetics of simple and complex reaction systems in solution. It goes on to present a treatment of the more advanced topics such as solvent effects, fast reaction techniques, and heterogeneous liquid-liquid two-phase systems. An overview of currently active and important research areas in...

The role of transition metals in various biological systems is of great interest to chemists; the specific properties of these metals often define the biological function of the proteins and systems these metals are found in. This volume introduces readers to a number of topics, including the transport and storage of metals; their functions in dioxygen interactions, electron transfer, and enzyme activity; the therapeutic uses of coordination compounds; and the role that small-molecule models can play in advancing our knowledge of the structure and function of transition metals contained in...

Nitrogen plays a key role in all areas of organic chemistry, from DNA and proteins to pharmaceuticals, dyes and polymers. Despite the large application of this element, there are just a few key principles under pinning its chemistry. This concise volume covers the principles of or ganonitrogen chemistry in a discussion of all the main organonitrogen functional groups. It develops the concepts logically under three dist inct sections, providing a clear overview of the synthesis, reactions and properties of nitrogen compounds.

Although the chemistry of solid inorganic materials has become increasingly central to chemistry research, the subject has long been inadequately covered. This inexpensive and well-illustrated primer fills the gap with a comprehensive introduction to the subject. Topics include: transition metal oxides, non-stoichiometry, zeolites, layer compounds chemistry, high temperature superconductors, and fullerides. Syntheses of these compound types are presented as well. The book also details powder X-ray diffraction, the major experimental technique used to study and characterize the chemistry of...