Module CHEM4211: BIOACTIVE CHEMISTRY 4

Department: Chemistry

CHEM4211: BIOACTIVE CHEMISTRY 4

Prerequisites

• Bioactive Chemistry 3 (CHEM3211), Advanced Organic Chemistry (CHEM3117) AND Biological Chemistry (CHEM2051).

Corequisites

• Bioactive Chemistry Research Project (CHEM4272), Biochemistry Research Project (BIOL4022),

Excluded Combination of Modules

• Core Chemistry 4 (CHEM4311) AND Advanced Research Concepts in Chemistry (CHEM4481).

Aims

• To build on material taught at level three and provide students with an advanced overview of more specialised areas of chemistry at the interface with biology.

Content

• I - Medicinal Chemistry I - Drug design, discovery and development
• J - Advanced Polymer Synthesis
• K - Molecular Machines
• M - Carbenes in Organocatalysis
• N - Organofluorine Chemistry
• O - Bioorganic Chemistry of Phosphorus
• U - Medicinal Chemistry II - From hit to pill
• [*Each student will follow six lecture courses.].

Learning Outcomes

• After attending the relevant lecture courses, students should be able to:
• I1 - Classify drugs according to their site and mode of action and critically discuss the relationships between structure and activity;
• I2 - Describe methods by which drugs may be discovered and optimised;
• J1 - Describe and distinguish between the major synthetic routes to polymer molecules
• J2 - Understand the relative merits and limitations of each synthetic route and suggest suitable strategies for the synthesis of key polymer classes
• K1 - Discuss the common building blocks and design strategies used to make mechanically interlocked molecules and sterically overcrowded olefin rotors
• K2 - Describe the relationships between chemical structures, applied stimuli and molecular motions in the context of molecular machines
• M1 - Identify different classes of carbene organocatalysts and synthetic routes to these catalysts;
• M2 - Discuss typical mechanisms of reactions enabled by carbenes including acyl anion, Lewis base and azolium enolate catalysis;
• N1 - Describe several methods for the introduction of fluorine atoms into organic systems
• N2 - Discuss reactivity and mechanisms of fluoroalkenes, aromatics, heterocyclics and ‘mirror-image’ chemistry of related hydrocarbon systems
• O1 - Appreciate the roles of phosphate esters in biological systems;
• O2 - Describe and explain the mechanistic spectrum of phosphoryl transfer reactions;
• O3 - Understand and predict the reactivities of analogues of phosphate esters;
• O4 - Understand how analogues of phosphate esters can be applied to problems in chemical biology;
• U1 - Understand the process of developing a successful "hit" from drug discovery into a final product;
• U2 - Understand the importance of solid-state forms and their characterisation for drug pharmacokinetics and patenting;

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• Facts and new concepts are introduced in the lecture courses.
• Students' knowledge and understanding is tested by examination.
• Undergraduates are aided in the learning process by workshops where they attempt sample problems about the lecture courses.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Workshop problems.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University