Organic chemistry applied to biology

Program- First Module (Seneci): The role of synthetic organic chemistry in the drug discovery process (3 ECTS)

Chemical genetics: how synthetic chemistry and compound collections can be used to support the identification of valuable molecular targets against complex diseases. Examples
Chemical probes: how "tagged" compounds can be used either to identify their molecular targets (affinity chromatography, PAL linkers), or to visualize their in vitro/in vivo compartimentalization (molecular imaging).
Rational design and structural optimization of biologically active compounds - Computational chemistry. Molecular modelling, molecular descriptors, similarity and dissimilarity.
Structure-based drug design. Computational models of a target, drug-like compound collections, molecular docking. Examples.
Ligand-based drug design. Chemical and topological pharmacophores, ligand training sets. Examples.

Program- Second Module (Potenza): Application of NMR spectroscopy to the study of biomolecules (3 ECTS)

- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy:
- One-dimensional 1H-NMR experiments: chemical shift and coupling constants
- One-dimensional 13C-NMR experiments and DEPT sequence
- Two-dimensional NMR spectroscopy: preparation, evolution and mixing, data acquisition and graphical representation. Homonuclear (H,H) correlated NMR spectroscopy: COSY,
- The nuclear Overhauser effect: theoretical background, NOESY.
- Study of the molecular interactions by NMR-STD technique and TR-NOESY