Questions tagged [medicinal-chemistry]
Medicinal chemistry is the process of design, synthesis, and testing of molecules (drugs) for the treatment of infection and disease. The medicinal-chemistry tag should be applied to all questions relating to this process, from the theoretical aspects of drug design (screening, computational studies, synthesis planning) to the practical aspects of the actual synthesis, characterisation and testing of the molecule.
4
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Why is barium used instead of bismuth as a contrast in gastrointestinal xrays?
Why is barium used instead of bismuth as a contrast in gastrointestinal x-rays? Bismuth is a heavy metal that has a relatively low toxicity in comparison to barium. Is there a particular property of ...
-1
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1answer
25 views
Separation of sugar and fat in a column chromatography [closed]
I am chemist at organic and bioorganic chemistry,I want to know if we are separating sugar and fat in a column chromatography who will be down first ? and why ?
Thank you.
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1answer
31 views
Which of these chemicals share a likeness in structure with benzodiazepines causing false-positives in urine tests? [closed]
Below are potential culprits:
Quetiapine, Oxcarbazepine, and Valproate feature in the current medicine regime.
Olanzapine was discontinued quite recently.
Quetiapine XR (increased to 400mg) and an ...
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1answer
30 views
11
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1answer
2k views
How to count free rotatable bonds
I am having difficulties to count the number of free rotating bonds for the Lipinski and Veber rules. What are the rules in doing so?
In Vemurafenib (shown above), which bonds are considered ...
3
votes
1answer
88 views
Tip of my tongue: what is the name of this process?
I remember back in Chemistry class, we did this thing where we would drop some liquid into a solvent. The moment it touched the solvent, it would turn into a gel sphere with the solvent inside it, and ...
10
votes
1answer
195 views
Why is there a comparative lack of variety in positive counterions in drugs?
Pharmaceutical salts are important in the process of drug development. Using different chemical species to neutralise the parent drug can produce a diverse series of compounds, and this process is ...
1
vote
2answers
368 views
NaHCO3 required to raise pH of weak HCL solution from 3.5 to 7.2 (doubting my calculations)
I'm a dentist, working on a medical device that will make shots at the dentist office hurt a lot less. The device mixes a drug (2% Lidocaine) that has been acidified with $\ce{HCl}$ to pH 3.5 for ...
3
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0answers
419 views
How do you remove residual Lawesson's reagent after thionation?
I am currently synthesizing a peptidomimetic bioisostere that replaces an oxygen with a sulfur. I use lawesson's reagent to achieve this, and althought the reaction works and despite running it ...
5
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0answers
35 views
Cytotoxicity of Ru-complexes
I have a basic question: why are Ru(II)-complexes cytotoxic?
What I know is that depending on the used ligand some of them interact with the DNA either via DNA-pi-stacking (intercalation) or binding ...
1
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0answers
52 views
How to find all published Pharmacophore Structure of a Drug target?
Other than literature review how do you find the structures of Pharmacophore of a drug target? I am searching Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Kinase (PDK) inhibitors and I have reviewed lots of literature but ...
13
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1answer
167 views
Trustworthiness of IC50 values
My two questions: Is replication of recording $\text{IC}_{50}$ values prior to (primary?) publication less common than performing a reaction several times to determine a more reliable record? Provided ...
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1answer
320 views
Does chlorine in tap water usually contain traces of cornstarch (or its derivatives)? [closed]
My online research has been challenging to separate out the corn starch or corn Derivatives that are obviously in chlorine weather in tap water or pools. There is medical support backing it but I ...
2
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1answer
446 views
What concentration of small molecule binding is considered weak or strong?
In the chemistry literature, I often see a stated concentration (nanomolar, micromolar, millimolar) followed by qualitative judgment on the potency of the small molecule for protein inhibition. What ...
4
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0answers
650 views
Reasoning for baking soda treating poison ivy rashes
A quick Google search will show that baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) mixed with water in a 3 to 1 ratio will make a paste to be applied on poison ivy rashes. This is commonly advertised as a home ...
3
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3answers
4k views
Determine from pKa if acid or base
I'm studying medicine, not chemistry, but I hope you can help me anyway.
I just had to solve a question where it is given that the drug Propranolol has a $\text{p}K_{\text{a}}$ of 9.5 and the un-...
1
vote
1answer
131 views
What is the significance of Sphingolipids in human?
I want to know the significance of sphingolipids in human. I have learnt that sphingomyelin is the most significant type of sphingolipid in human. Also that the sphingomyelin serves as a structural ...
3
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2answers
799 views
Betaine HCl stomach pH
It seems betaine HCL is often recommended for those suffering from "low stomach acid" -- which, as I understand, is having too high stomach pH for proper digestion (especially for proteolysis via ...
1
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0answers
20 views
For Penicillin Binding proteins, why is the Enzyme-peptide complex less stable than an enzyme-β-lactam complex?
I'm trying to figure this out. I cannot find any publications that go into good detail about the chemistry of PBP inhibition by β-lactam antibiotics.
PBPs cross-link adjacent pentapeptides to form ...
1
vote
1answer
279 views
In the graph provided, which of the substances is the most efficient in acting as an antacid?
If every dot represents the addition of 0.1 g of the respective base. I suppose that the best would be the one that reaches the highest pH, in the shortest time, for example Calcium Carbonate, but if ...
0
votes
1answer
4k views
What kind of materials are plastic syringes made from?
I'm trying to figure out what kind of materials my disposable plastic syringe is made from. I have a Medefil MIS-1130 syringe and when I visited the company website I couldn't find any information on ...
4
votes
1answer
561 views
General Alkaloid Extraction Process
I'm getting into alkaloid extraction from various ethnobotanicals. It is a bit frustrating trying to extract alkaloids from ethnobotanicals without good guides out there, and I wanted to make my own ...
0
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1answer
44 views
Different names for Fidaxomicin (OPT-80)?
Is OPT in OPT-80 an abbreviation? If so, what is the full name?
1
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0answers
370 views
Why is Fmoc base-labile and Moz acid-labile?
I'm learning about the Zuckermann approach to combinatorial chemistry in my MedChem lecture. My textbook claims that the Fmoc protecting group is base-labile while the Moz protecting groups is acid-...
5
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2answers
4k views
Why do halogen substituents make molecules more lipophilic?
According to my medicinal chemistry text book, halogens increase a drug’s lipophilicty. This makes no sense to me for two reasons:
Halogens are all quite electronegative and they will form a $\ce{C-X}...
1
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2answers
130 views
Extracting herbs with grape juice
I tried searching my question on google and did not find anything. I am looking to extract herbs with pure 100%
grape juice http://www.lakewoodjuices.com/product_detail/id-32/ ( it is pasteurized ) ...
2
votes
1answer
87 views
XlogP of octanol and water itself
According to Pubchem, the XLogP of octanol is 3 and that of water is -0.5. Why aren't they both 0 or 1 which seems to make more sense to me?
3
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1answer
716 views
Classical bioisosteres
Classical bioisosteres are functional groups that satisfy with the Grimm's hydride displacement law and Langmuir's definition of isosteres.
My question is why chlorine can be replaced by ...
10
votes
2answers
3k views
Is ciprofloxacin acidic or basic?
I would expect an aqueous solution of ciprofloxacin to be basic for the following reasons:
The carboxyl group has pKa = 6.09 and the secondary amino group has pKa = 8.74. Because 8.74 is further from ...
2
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0answers
1k views
Shape of the blood CO2 dissociation curve
What equation determines the shape of the blood $\ce{CO2}$ dissociation curve? I know that since it factors all possible forms of $\ce{CO2}$ carriage, there are a bunch of factors (e.g. Henry's law, ...
7
votes
1answer
64 views
Arterial blood CO2 content, division and partial pressure
My lecturer cites Boron and Boulpaep's Medical Physiology (2nd edition) for the following claims:
the total $\ce{CO2}$ content of arterial blood is $26.4$ mmol/L or $48\%$ v/v (not sure if these ...
8
votes
1answer
391 views
Is lithium L-threonate a potential brain medicine?
Lithium ions have known neuroprotective qualities. That would explain its therapeutic benefit in some mental disorders. It is also well known that lithium carbonate must be taken in toxic doses to get ...
0
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2answers
2k views
What's the difference between pharmacotherapy and chemotherapy
Is it fair to say that pharmacotherapy (the use of pharmaceuticals to treat disease) is a subset of chemotherapy (the use of chemicals to treat disease)?
If not, why? Aside from the fact the former ...
2
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0answers
227 views
Why are trifluoromethyl diazirines so stable?
Why are trifluoromethyl diazirines so stable?
Trifluoromethyl diazirines stability is well documented, however I am yet to find an explanation of why...
Can it be homoaromatic or even aromatic?
2 pie ...
4
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3answers
4k views
How do water insoluble medications get absorbed in the blood stream?
If a chemical is ingested (supplement or drug) orally, which is insoluble in water, how can it be absorbed into the body? Is there something inside a capsule that the compound is mixed with?
4
votes
1answer
648 views
Regarding the mechanism for biological activity of tyramine, amphetamine and ephedrine
Graham Patrick explains the mechanism for the activity of tyramine, amphetamine and ephedrine in his book Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry as follows:
Some amines such as tyramine , amphetamine ...
3
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0answers
214 views
Combining amphetamine and MAOIs
Could combining amphetamine and a (possibly selective) MAOI (MonoAmine Oxidase Inhibitor) increase the amphetamines potency without serious toxic side effects? If so by what factor, and would this be ...
9
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1answer
127 views
Are the tars in cannabis considerably more dangerous than those in tobacco?
The claim that "the tars in cannabis are considerably more dangerous than those in tobacco" is made in Patricks An Introduction to Medicinal Chemistry (4th edition, p. 169). It's just a simple one ...
11
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2answers
1k views
Effect of enatiomers in pharmaceuticals [closed]
Often (or always?) one enantiomer of a certain drug will be effective and the other ineffective or harmful. The famous example is thalidomide, where one enantiomer caused mutilation of the unborn ...
0
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1answer
88 views
Skin adhesive that can be used daily without damaging skin
What is the branch of chemistry that deals with skin adhesives? Is there an adhesive that is not water soluble that is safe to use every day?
0
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0answers
122 views
Urine dipstick reagent for ketones
Is there a urine dipstick reagent for ketones that will last several hours without becoming falsely negative?
The ketostix brand of urine dipstick for ketones uses sodium nitroprusside. My ...
5
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1answer
60 views
How are hormone levels measured?
I have been searching google and didn't found any links that describes how this process is performed - I mean the chemical procedure, not the process of taking the blood from the vein.
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1answer
187 views
I recently learned I'm allergic to potassium dicromate or chromium [closed]
are eye drops with inactive ingredients called potassium chloride or sodium chloride the same as potassium dichromate and should I stop using those eye drops?
2
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1answer
734 views
How important are those fields of chemistry in biotechnology and medicinal chemistry
At my university there is some fields of chemistry that i don't know if i should focus on them...
How important are in biotechnology and medicinal chemistry those fields of chemistry? :
Quantum ...
3
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0answers
32 views
PAPS , is it a carrier or not
In sulfate conjugation , is it considered as a carrier or help to make sulfonation if I got a question and I have to choose ( enzyme helps to make the reaction or is a carrier to transfer the sulfate )...
3
votes
1answer
1k views
Why is acetylsalicylic acid still more acid than benzoic acid?
In this question, it is explained why salicylic acid is a stronger acid than benzoic acid. So, why acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin), whose conjugate base cannot hydrogen bond since there is no hydrogen, ...
11
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3answers
836 views
Can we prolong life? [closed]
This is rather a bunch of questions that I decided to post on Chemistry StackExchange since I thought the chemists would have the most knowledge about the chemical processes of life.
So recently I ...
2
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1answer
877 views
Why does the US not manufacture sodium thiopental themselves?
A shortage of a given chemical (sodium thiopendal) has prompted Utah to allow firing squads for executions. This shortage is due to mostly European chemical factories refusing to export the drug to ...
0
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1answer
50 views
Looking for a compound [closed]
TL;DR;
I need a compound that is harmeless to the human body, odorless, tasteless, causes some kind of visible reaction (urine coloration perhaps) AND can be bought without medical recomendation.
LONG ...
15
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3answers
848 views
Is it possible to make a drug that liquefies heart plaque to treat heart disease?
Is it possible to make a drug that liquefies heart plaque to treat heart disease without damaging other parts of the body? If so, would the liquefied plaque be eliminated as regular fluid is through ...
