This document discusses chemicals used in medicine. It describes how drugs interact with molecular targets like enzymes and receptors to produce therapeutic effects. Common drug classifications and examples are provided, such as analgesics, antibiotics, antiseptics, and antifertility drugs. The development of important antibiotics like penicillin is summarized. Key concepts like drug mechanisms of action, spectra of activity, and differences between antiseptics and disinfectants are also briefly explained.

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Chemistry in Everyday Life
Fotolia #10096454
Fotolia #22145803
In short we can realize Fotolia that #we 845108
come across chemical
Fotolia #845108
Fotolia #10096454 Fotolia #22145803
compounds every moment of our life.
Sickness and diseases remind us medicines.
Cleansing stuffs like soaps and detergent come in our mind
when we start thinking over cleanliness.
Even what we eat are made up of different biomolecules

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Drugs
Chemical substances of lower
molecular mass (about 100-500 u)
Interact with macromolecular target
and produce a biological
response
Are called medicine if biological
response, produce by the interaction
with macromolecular targets, turns
out to be therapeutic and useful
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Medicines
Used in diagnosis,
prevention and curing
treatment of diseases
Can prove to be poisonous,
if it is consumed in higher
doses than those
recommended
Or chemicals used for
therapeutic effect is said to
be chemotherapy
Fotolia #1591377

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Criteria of Classification of Drugs
Drugs can be classified on the basis of mainly following
criteria
Pharmacological effect
 Drug action
Chemical structure
 Molecular targets

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Pharmacological Effect
Drugs which are classified on the basis of pharmacological
effect is very useful for doctors.
 This is because these provide whole range of drugs available for
the treatment of a particular type of problem.
Example:
 Analgesics have pain killing effect
 Antiseptic is used to kill or arrest the growth of microorganism.

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Drug Action
Drugs can also be classified on the basis of the action these
on a particular biochemical process.
Example:
 Histamine which causes inflammation in the body, can inhibit
the action of the compound.

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Chemical Structure
Drugs may have same kind of chemical structures
Due to identical structures, they share similar
pharmacological activity.
Example:
 All Sulphonamides have common structural feature as given
below
Sulphonamides
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Molecular Targets
Target molecules with which drugs usually interact are
actually biomolecules.
These biomolecules could be carbohydrate, protein, lipids
and nucleic acids.
Drugs having some common structural features may have
the same mechanism of action on targets.

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Molecular Target : Biomolecules
Proteins
Enzymes
Receptors
Career

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Function of Protiens
Proteins can perform as biological catalysts in body to speed
up the metabolic processes.
These biological catalysts called enzyme
Proteins called receptors are crucial to communication
system in the body.
Carrier proteins transmit polar molecules across the cell
membrane of the organisms.
Nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA have coded genetic
information for the living cell.

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Drug-Target Interaction
Majority of drugs act on receptors present in or on the cell.
Receptors, usually a protein, is a macromolecular
component of a cell with which a drug interacts to produce
a response.
Enzymes are treated as target.
Drug-target interaction can be understood by taking
example of enzymes and receptors.

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Catalytic Action of Enzymes
There are two major functions usually performed by
enzymes in their catalytic activity.
 Holding of substrate to facilitates chemical reactions
Providing functional groups to accomplish reaction
Plz picture
Use green in place Red green.

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Catalytic Action of Enzymes
Enzyme holds substrate
through active site in a fixed
position, so that it can be
attacked by the reagent with a
greater ease.
In the second step, enzyme
provides functional groups that
will attack the substrate and
carry out chemical reaction to
yield a product.

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Drug-Enzyeme Interaction
Drugs can inhibit the activities of enzymes, is called
enzyme inhibitors.
It can block the active site of enzymes or can inhibit the
catalytic activity of enzyme.
Inhibition of enzyme take place in two different ways
 By preferential attachment of drugs on the active site.
 By binding of drugs with allosteric site of enzymes.

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Drug-Enzyeme Interaction
By preferential attachment of drugs on the active site:
 Drugs may compete with the natural substrate for their
binding to the active site of enzyme.
 Such drugs are called competitive inhibitors.
Plz picture
Use green for enzyme, colour and colour substrate.

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Drug-Enzyeme Interaction
By binding of drugs with allosteric site of enzymes:
 Some drugs tend to bind with allosteric site other than
enzyme’s active site.
 Such type of binding changes the shape of the active site in
such a way that it becomes unrecognizable for the substrate
Use for

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Receptors as Targets
Receptors are proteins that play a major role in body’s
communication process.
Receptor proteins, are embedded in the cell, have active
site.
These active sites project out of the surface of the cell
membrane

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Receptor as Targets
Animation

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Drugs and Receptors
Drugs are called antagonists, if they are attached to the
receptor site to inhibit its natural functioning.
Antagonists are useful when blocking of message
(propagated by the chemical messenger) is required
Drugs that mimic the natural messenger by switching on
the receptor are called agonists.
Agonists are useful when there is lack of natural chemical
messenger.

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Antacids
The chemical substances which neutralize
the excess acid present in stomach as
gastric juices and give relief from this
problems
Example:
Metal hydroxides such as
Mg(OH)2 and Al(OH)3
NaHCO3
Antacids only control the symptoms not the
root cause of secretion of excessive acids in
stomach.
with

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Antihistamines
Histamine is responsible for the nasal
congestion associated with common
cold and allergic response to pollen.
Antihistamines destroys histamine
produced in the body by allergens,
used to treat skin rashes,
conjunctivitis.
Antihistamines prevent allergic
reactions like hazy fever, mild asthma,
nasal discharge, etc.
Example: Brompheniramine
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Brompheniramine

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Tranquilizers
Drugs which act on the central
nervous system and help in
reducing anxiety.
Used for the treatment of mental
diseases and help to reduce
anxiety, restlessness and
excitement.
Are also known as
psychotherapeutic drugs.
Examples: Luminal, seconal,
equanil, etc.
These are mainly the derivatives
of barbituric acid.
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Some Important Tranquilizers
Equanil Veronal
Valium Serotonin

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Analgesics
Used to reduce or abolish
pain without causing
impairment of consciousness,
mental confusion, some
other disturbances of nervous
system.
Are of two types
Non-Narcotic
 Narcotic

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Non-Narcotic Analgesics
Aspirin and paracetamol belong to
the class of non-narcotic or non-addictive
analgesics.
Aspirin an important analgesic
inhibits the synthesis of
prostaglandins which is responsible
for stimulation of inflammation in
the tissue.
Non-narcotic drugs have also
antipyretic and preventing platelet
coagulation effect.
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Aspirin

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Narcotic Analgesics
Mainly used for the relief of
postoperative pain, cardiac pain,
pains of terminal cancer and in
child birth
On administrating of morphine
(an analgesics) and many of its
homologues in medicinal doses,
they relieve pain and produce
sleep.
In poisonous doses, these produce
stupor, coma, convulsions and
ultimately death.
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Some Narcotic Analgesics
Morphine Heroin Codeine
Morphine narcotics are sometimes referred to as opiates as
they are synthesized from the opium poppy.

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Antimicrobials
Microorganism such as bacteria,
virus and other pathogens are
responsible for repercussions of
diseases in human beings and
animals.
An antimicrobial helps us to
destroy or prevent development
or inhibit the pathogenic action
of microbes or other parasites.
Example:
 Antibiotics, antiseptics and
disinfectants.
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Antibiotics
Antibiotics being less toxic for humans and animals, are
used as drugs to treat infections.
Initially antibiotics were defined as chemical substances
produced by microorganisms that inhibit the growth or even
destroy microorganisms.
Now antibiotics refers to a substance produced wholly or to
a certain extent by chemical synthesis which inhibit the
growth or destroys the microorganism.

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Development of Antibiotics
Paul Ehrlich, a German
bacteriologist, investigated a
medicine arsphenamine (arsenic
based structure) known as
salvarsan for the treatment of
syphilis
Although salvarsan is toxic to
human beings.
Salvarsan

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Development of Antibiotics
While working on azodyes, Ehrlich noted that there is
similarity in structures of salvarsan and azodyes.
Salvarsan Azodyes
He also noted that tissue is getting coloured by azo dyes
selectively.
Ehrlich started looking for the compounds which resemble
in structure to azodyes and selectively bind to bacteria.

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Development of Antibiotics
In 1932, Paul Ehrlich
synthesised the first effective
antibacterial agent, prontosil.
In the body, prontosil is
converted to a compound
called sulphanilamide, which
is the real active compound.
This triggers the synthesis of
a large range of sulphonamide
analogues.
Prontosil
Sulphanilamide
Sulphapyridine

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Peniciline : First Ever Antibiotics
Discovery of penicillin brought
a revolution in the field of
antibacterial therapy.
In 1929, Alexander Fleming
identified antibacterial
properties of a Penicillium
fungus.
Isolation and purification of
active compound from
Penicillium fungus to
accumulate sufficient material
for clinical trials took thirteen
years.
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Tyepes of Antibiotics
Antibiotics
Cidal Effect Bactericidal
Static Effect Bacteriostatic

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Spectrum of Action
The complete range microorganisms that are affected by a
certain antibiotic is expressed as its spectrum of action.
Broad spectrum antibiotics can kill or inhibit a wide range
of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria.
 Ampicillin and Amoxycillin have broad spectrum.
Narrow spectrum antibiotics are effective mainly against
either Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacteria.
Peniclline G has narrow spectrum.
Limited spectrum antibiotics are effective against a single
microorganism or disease.

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Antiseptics
Chemicals which prevent the
growth or kill the microorganisms
but do not harm the living tissues
Can be applied to the wounds,
cuts and infected skin surfaces,
etc.
Also used in deodorants, face
powders and mouth washes and
mouth freshners to reduce odours
caused by bacterial decomposition
on the body or in the mouth
with

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Antiseptics
Bithional is added to soaps for
antiseptic properties.
Dettol is a mixture of
chloroxylenol and terpeneol in a
suitable solvent.
Bithional
Chloroxylenol Terpeneol

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Disinfectants
Used to kill microorganisms and are harmful
to the living tissues
Used for sterilization of instruments, floors,
toilets, etc.
 For example,1% solution of phenol and
chlorine in the concentration of 0.2 to 0.4
ppm in aqueous solution
By changing the concentration, same
substance may act as disinfectant or as an
antiseptic
 For example, 0.2% aqueous solution of
phenol acts as antiseptic while 1% solution of
phenol is a disinfectant.

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Antifertility Drugs
Drugs used to control pregnancy are called
antifertility drugs.
They contain steroids for birth control.
 Examples: Progestrone and Estrogen derivatives
Norethindrone
(A synthetic progesterone derivative)
Ethynylestradiol