84 lectures, 32 tutorials and 75 hours practical work
The major aim of the first year of the course is to provide the background in physical and organic chemistry necessary to understand the clinical/medicinal chemistry covered in later years, as well as to provide essential background for pharmaceutics and pharmacology.
General objectives
In this teaching program students are expected to develop :
understanding of key concepts in chemical structure and bonding; pi bonds; the basic laws underlying the ultraviolet, visible and infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum; the molecular basis for different properties of the gas, liquid and solid states; the basis for and application of phase diagrams; factors important in solution behaviour; the principles of ionic equilibria pharmacy; the basic theory of electrochemistry; the key concepts associated with explaining rates of chemical reactions; the basic principles of thermodynamics; the principles of metal-ligand complex formation; the structures and physicochemical properties of key classes of organic compounds;
abilities in the areas of measurement and recording of data relevant to the understanding of drug structure and reactivity; performing numerical calculations relevant to pharmacy, based on experimental or theoretical data;
an appreciation of the role of molecular shapes and electronic distributions as the basis for drug-receptor interactions; the importance of physicochemical properties of drugs in determining drug activity.
Syllabus
n Physical and analytical chemistry
50 lectures
Chemical bonding. Quantum theory, atomic orbitals, hybridisation. Covalent bonds, valence bond and molecular orbital theories. Polar molecules, intermolecular bonds, molecular association. Relative strengths of bonds.
Spectroscopy. Energy level diagrams, chromophores and auxochromes. Ultraviolet, visible, fluorescence, emission and atomic absorbance spectroscopy. Introduction to qualitative infrared spectroscopy. Beer's law and pharmaceutical analysis. Photochemical reactions of drugs, photosensitive degradations, sunscreens, photochemotherapy.
States of matter. Gases. Graham's and Fick's laws of diffusion. Dalton's law of partial pressures. Deviation from ideal gas behaviour, van der Waals' equation. Liquids. Liquefaction of gases, vapour pressure of liquids, latent heat of vaporisation, the Clausius-Clapeyron equation.
Phase equilibria. One-component systems. Solid, liquid and vapour equilibria, the water diagram, Gibbs phase rule. Polymorphism, properties of polymorphs. Two-component systems. Solid solutions, eutectic mixtures. Miscibility of liquid mixtures, the phenol-water system. Partition between immiscible solvents. Chromatography. Three-component systems. The miscibility of toluene, ethanol and water, triangular diagrams.
Solutions. Gases in liquids. Vapour pressure and solubility. Henry's law. Liquids in liquids. Vapour pressure of liquid mixtures, ideal behaviour, Raoult's law. Deviation from ideal behaviour, azeotropes. Colligative properties of solutions. Osmotic pressure, the van't Hoff coefficient, isotonicity.
Bioinorganic chemistry. Formation, stability and nomenclature of complex ions. Chelation and organometallic complexes in biological systems. Ionic equilibria in solution.
Thermodynamics. Heat and work, conservation of energy, internal energy, enthalpy, heat capacity. Thermochemistry, bond energies, resonance energy.
Reaction kinetics. Reaction rate, order and molecularity. Rate equations for zero, first and second order reactions. Reaction mechanisms, collision theory, transition states, drug stability.
Electrochemistry. Galvanic cells, Nernst equation, oxygen electrode, cell potentials and free energy, pKa, solubility product and equilibrium constant. Electrochemistry and biological cell potentials, pharmaceutical analysis and dissolution studies.
Recommended texts
Aylward G and Findlay T SI chemical data 2nd edn, Wiley, 1974
Brown G I Introduction to physical chemistry 3rd edn, Longman, 1983
Holum J R Fundamentals of general, organic, and biological chemistry 4th edn, Wiley, 1990
Reference books
Denaro A R Elementary electrochemistry 2nd edn, Butterworths, 1981
Florence A T and Attwood D Physicochemical principles of pharmacy 2nd edn, Macmillan, 1988
Martin A N and others Physical pharmacy 4th edn, Lea and Febiger, 1993
Skoog D and West D Fundamentals of analytical chemistry 6th edn, Saunders, 1992
n Organic and medicinal chemistry
34 lectures
Structure and properties of organic molecules. Bonding, isomerism, stereochemistry and nomenclature of carbon compounds. An introduction to the use of spectroscopic methods in structure determination and identification of organic compounds.
Reactions of organic molecules. The chemistry of selected classes of organic compounds, viz. aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons and their halogen derivatives, alcohols and phenols, aldehydes and ketones, carboxylic acids, esters, amides, acid chlorides, amines and other nitrogenous compounds, thiols and other sulphur-containing molecules. Polyfunctional molecules such as amino acids and amino alcohols. Elementary electronic theory and reaction mechanisms. Throughout the course special reference will be made to compounds of biological, medicinal and pharmaceutical importance.
Introduction to medicinal chemistry. Influence of such factors as shape, size, ionisation state, solubility and substituent groups on the biological action of selected drug classes.
Recommended text
Holum J R Fundamentals of general, organic, and biological chemistry 4th edn, Wiley, 1990
Reference books
Albert A Selective toxicity 7th edn, Chapman and Hall, 1985
Bettleheim F A and March J Introduction to general, organic and biochemistry 2nd edn, Saunders, 1988
Lemke T L Review of organic functional groups 3rd edn, Lea and Febiger, 1992
Solomons T W G Organic chemistry 5th edn, Wiley, 1992
Supplementary material
Molecular model set for organic chemistry Allyn and Bacon, 1984
or
Minit molecular building system (biochemistry set), Cochranes, 1973
Practical
75 hours practical work in analytical, physical, medicinal and organic chemistry
Practical classes are designed to provide experience of the principles presented in the lecture course.
Students are required to wear safety glasses and laboratory coats in the laboratory.
Recommended text
Victorian College of Pharmacy Pharmaceutical chemistry I laboratory manual VCP, 1995
Reference book
Beckett A H and Stenlake J B Practical pharmaceutical chemistry parts 1 and 2, 4th edn, Athlone Press, 1988
Assessment
Subject assessment will reflect the learning objectives outlined above. Methods of assessment will include:
Progress examination (May) (1.5 hours): 10%
Practical work and other tests: 20%
End-of-year examination (two 2-hour papers): 70%