MCMP Graduate Program - Medicinal and Bioorganic Chemistry

Medicinal chemists use a variety of approaches to study the relationship between the structures of medicinal agents and their biological activities. This information is applied to the design, synthesis and development of new drug molecules. Within this broad area, some researchers are primarily involved in organic synthesis or the development of methods for the synthesis of pharmacologically active substances, while others may be focused on the pharmacology and biochemistry of drug action. These approaches lie on a continuum, but individuals with interests in these areas have one thing in common; they seek to understand how chemical structure correlates with biological activity.

Such knowledge is critical as modern methods of drug design and discovery become more rational. A complete understanding of the physiology and biochemistry of living organisms and how drugs interact with these processes and their component biomolecules is essential to the design of effective and specific therapeutic agents. Knowledge of the functional consequences of interaction between a particular drug molecule and a variety of cellular processes can lead to insights important to improving the selectivity of the drug.

Bioorganic chemists apply the methods and logic of organic chemistry to the solution of biological problems. For example, a bioorganic chemist might synthesize a compound that mimics an enzyme--substrate complex and study its reactivity in order to learn more about the molecular details of the analogous enzyme-catalyzed reaction. Alternatively, a bioorganic chemist might use the techniques of organic chemistry (e.g., NMR spectroscopy or chemical modification) to study an actual enzymatic reaction. Another important area of bioorganic research is the development of chemical methodology for use by the protein or nucleic acid biochemist.