The Organic Chemistry of Drug Design and Drug Action, Second Edition [Hardcover]

Richard B. Silverman Ph.D Organic Chemistry (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0126437327 | ISBN-13: 978-0126437324 | Publication Date: January 26, 2004 | Edition: 2

Standard medicinal chemistry courses and texts are organized by classes of drugs with an emphasis on descriptions of their biological and pharmacological effects. This book represents a new approach based on physical organic chemical principles and reaction mechanisms that rationalize drug action and allow the reader to extrapolate to many related classes of drug molecules. The Second Edition reflects the significant changes in the drug industry over the past decade, and now includes color illustrations, chapter problems, and other elements that make concepts easier to understand.

* Organic chemist's perspective of how drugs are designed and function
* Teaches organic chemists and biochemists the fundamentals of drug design and drug action using drugs as examples
* Extensive use of references to the primary and secondary literature for more in depth reading about all concepts
* Extensive use of structures, schemes, and figures to illustrate points
* Explanations of dual-acting drugs
* Problem sets and answers for each topic
* Casual writing style
* Author has published over 200 articles in the areas of synthesis, bioorganic chemistry, and medicinal chemistry, has been awarded 21 patents, and has invented a drug that is under consideration for commercialization.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...this text is directed towards graduates who are embarking on a career in medicinal chemistry in the discovery laboratory. Sliverman continues to blur the edges between chemistry and pharmacology in a manner that is incontrovertibly relevant to the discipline of drug design and development."
-Michael E. Cooper, GE Healthcare, The Maynard Centre, in DDT, VOL. 9, 2004

"What stands out in comparison with other books discussed here is that the subjects are generally addressed in detail, and each theoretical point is illustrated with examples of specific drugs. A great deal of knowledge is reflected...that is suitable for both advanced students and PhDs a like who have not yet become acquainted with the area, but who wish to prepare themselves for a career in drug research."
-ORGANIC CHEMISTRY ORG., 2005

Praise for the First Edition:

"This book is a tour de force in the title area...This book would be appropriate for advanced undergraduate students and graduate students...strongly recommended to scientists who are seeking an efficient introduction to medicinal chemistry, background in a specific drug principle or category, or a dose of inspiration."
--JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY

"... unified, well-organized and clearly presented ...It is so clearly written that it will be of value to both students and veteran scientists...My congratulations to Dr. Silverman in consolidating such a multiplicity of facts and data so as to truly begin to reduce medicinal chemistry from a hybrid of chemistry, pharmacology and related sciences to a single, clearly defined, rationalized discipline."
--Carl Kaiser, Director of Medicinal Chemistry, NOVA PHARMACEUTICAL CORPORATION

"The author shows an uncanny ability to present the salient principles in a systematic, well-balanced and logical way..."
--William C. Groutas, WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY

"I was favorably impressed with the clarity of Dr. Silverman's writing style which made the material interesting and easy to read...Treatment of the material is quite comprehensive without being overly detailed and the referencing and illustrations are well chosen..."
--John G. Topliss, PARKE-DAVIS

"...The organization of this book and the clarity of presentation are outstanding... It is highly recommended to medicinal chemists as well as to all others entering into the field or concerned with the science of medicinal chemistry."
--JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY

Praise for the new edition:

"...intent of the first edition was to provide a textbook for advanced undergraduate students or graduate students, the scope of the second edition has been expanded so that it not only serves the original purpose but also serves as an excellent reference book for practicing medicinal chemists."

--John W. Ellingboe, Wyeth Research for the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2004

"...this book is a thorough overview of drug discovery and development... It is not only an excellent textbook for students but also a valuable resource for those already practicing medicinal chemistry."

John W. Ellingboe, Wyeth Research for the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 2004

Book Description

The long-awaited revision of this classic bestseller!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 617 pages
• Publisher: Academic Press; 2 edition (January 26, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0126437327
• ISBN-13: 978-0126437324
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 7.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,568 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > Medical Books > Basic Sciences > Biostatistics
  • #18 in Books > Medical Books > Basic Sciences > Biochemistry
  • #24 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Chemistry > Organic

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding..., May 5, 2005

By 

Ashutosh Jogalekar "Sciencecat" (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Organic Chemistry of Drug Design and Drug Action, Second Edition (Hardcover)

This is probably the best book of its kind in the vast and multidisciplinary field of drug design and action. Richard Silverman is an acclaimed chemistry professor at Northwestern University, and in this book he provides the most comprehensive and lucid exposition of the chemical basis of drug action that I have seen. No matter how complicated biological systems and their interactions are, at the basic level it's all chemistry, and mostly organic chemistry. Thus, understand the chemistry and you will go a long way in understanding drug action. An organic chemist will find this book extremely illuminating in a way that would not have been made clear through his traditional education.

The book opens with a short but clear discussion of drug discovery, combinatorial chemistry, patents and clinical trials. Then it leads the reader through a variety of enzyme catalyzed reactions, with examples of major drugs studded all the way. Silverman shows us how nature is the master organic chemist, employing the familiar reactions of chemistry in an unsurpassed manner. The chapter on enzyme inhibition is long and detailed and it's breathtaking. This is a key chapter because almost all major drugs act by inhibiting enzymes. The examples which Silverman chooses to illustrate are both important (including many bestselling anticancer, antiviral, and antibiotic drugs to name a few), as well as very interesting. The last parts of the book deal with DNA binding drugs and with pathways of drug metabolism and excretion. Along all the way, the emphasis is on the chemical reactions that drugs undergo, which are after all the key to understanding their properties. The lucidity of the book is such that a beginning graduate or advanced undergraduate well-versed with the basic principles of general and organic chemistry can easily understand all the contents.

I would say that this book is so interesting and illuminating that it's one of the very few academic books which you can enjoyably read cover to cover. In fact it even makes great bedside reading! Truly a must-have book for chemists and biologists of every kind interested in how drugs work.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book for chemists and medicinal chemists, February 8, 2009

By 

Eric Ballard "True knowledge exists in knowin... (Groton, CT United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Organic Chemistry of Drug Design and Drug Action, Second Edition (Hardcover)

Some books of this nature tend to focus on the synthesis of drug molecules and less about how they work and why. This book is just the opposite and walks the reader through a logical progression of drug discovery, design and target specificity. This book makes a great introduction to Goodman & Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics which could be considered the bible of the subject.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, April 4, 2004

By 

Downtown Mr. Brown "John" (Toronto) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Organic Chemistry of Drug Design and Drug Action (1) (Hardcover)

This book is fantastic and covers a broad range of topics that fall into the category of rational drug design. The book goes in depth into topics dealing with each important aspect of how drugs are discovered and modified to produce better drugs: from effects of chirality to electronic effects. The structure of drugs, at the molecular level are covered in detail, reflecting every major aspect of drug structure. Then, interaction between drug (ligand) and enzyme, at the molecular level are covered.

In my estimation, to benefit most from this book, the reader should have a working knowledge of organic chemistry and biochemistry (at least protein secondary and tertiary structure).